January 9, 2025

The Daily Record

ANNAPOLIS — Those who want Maryland to have special elections to fill vacant seats in the legislature are hoping that some early progress this session may finally get the proposal passed.

As of last session, roughly one in four legislators got their start in the State House because they were appointed, rather than elected. The number has and will continue to grow, as several state senators have recently left for other positions, prompting the appointment of a delegate to fill the vacancy and leaving an open seat in that chamber.

The Senate has voted repeatedly in recent years to require special elections, but the proposal hasn’t made it through the House of Delegates.

Senators have indicated that special elections will be a priority this session, and they’re expected to advance it in the early weeks of session.

“The Senate will have a hearing fairly early and move it fairly quickly,” Sen. Cheryl Kagan, a Montgomery County Democrat who’s sponsoring the bill, said in an interview.

With a House bill hearing scheduled for late January, there also appears to be growing optimism that the measure will make it through that chamber.

Last session, the House Ways and Means Committee didn’t have a hearing on the bill until the final weeks of session, and Chair Vanessa Atterbeary said at the time that she and her members weren’t particularly keen on it. The committee never voted on the bill.

Del. Linda Foley, also a Montgomery County Democrat and the House bill sponsor, said the early hearing will grant legislators more time to consider and debate the potential change. The number of recent appointments to the General Assembly may also bolster her argument.

“We have had a lot of appointments since the Moore administration took office, and it’s really getting to a tipping point now,” Foley said in an interview. “I’m hoping it’s gotten to a tipping point where my colleagues understand that it’s important to have some reform here.”

Atterbeary, a Howard County Democrat, said in a text message that she hasn’t read the bill. When asked whether the bill’s early hearing was a sign that it has a stronger chance of passing, she said it did not, and that her committee began scheduling hearings because of the volume of bills it’s been assigned.

If the legislature were to pass the bill this session, the question of whether to adopt special elections would go to voters as a 2026 ballot question. If voters were to approve the referendum, the first potential special election would be in 2028.

Maryland would hold special elections concurrently with statewide primary and general elections during presidential election years, which are off years for state races.

Proponents have contended that the state’s existing process — in which locally elected party central committees recommend a replacement, subject to the governor’s approval, to finish out the four-year term — grants preference to party leaders over voters and gives appointees an unfair advantage for name recognition and campaign fundraising when they enter election cycles as incumbents.

Others, though, have contended that the appointment process has been an effective way to fill vacancies and that it has increased diversity in the legislature.

Central committees would still recommend replacements for the governor’s approval, and incumbents would still have an upper hand, but special elections during presidential cycles would provide voters a say every two years, rather than every four.

In the Senate alone, four members have vacated their seats since the end of last session, including Maryland Commission for Women Executive Director Ariana Kelly, U.S. Rep. Sarah Elfreth, State Board of Contract Appeals member Jill Carter and Baltimore County Executive Katherine Klausmeier.

Carter’s and Klausmeier’s legislative seats remain vacant. Carter, who represented Baltimore city, resigned Jan. 3 and Klausmeier, of Baltimore County, only left her seat on Tuesday.

If the respective central committees nominate, and the governor approves, a current delegate from those areas to fill the Senate openings, there will be new vacancies in the House.

 

Sen. Cheryl Kagan, D-Montgomery, is again sponsoring legislation that would change how the state fills vacancies to the General Assembly. (The Daily Record/Jack Hogan)