October 29, 2026
by Hannah Gaskill
Maryland State Senate President Bill Ferguson made his picks for new committee leadership, his office announced Thursday.
The news comes days before the general election Tuesday, signaling confidence in his picks’ races. Several of them are running unopposed or have already survived more competitive Democratic primaries.
At a news conference held during a TEDCO business event in Baltimore on Tuesday, Ferguson, D-Baltimore City, said he was appointing Senate Education, Energy and the Environment Committee Chair Brian J. Feldman, D-Montgomery, as the chamber’s economic development chief — a newly created position.
In this role, Feldman will be a liaison between the House chamber, the governor’s office and private-sector stakeholders as the Senate tangles with the forthcoming $3 billion budget deficit and as Maryland continues to negotiate agreements with foreign entities. Rather than serving on a specific standing committee, he will serve as an ex officio member of all four.
“He has demonstrated as a committee chair his ability to bring people together,” Ferguson said of Feldman. “He is an expert at navigating tough conversations amongst our members, with people with different ideas, and so he’s exactly the right person with the right skill set to help make sure that the private sector voice is infused within every part of the budget negotiations or how we’re moving forward in the Senate.”
Feldman has served as the chair of the Senate’s Education, Energy and the Environment Committee since 2023. Prior to that, he was the vice chair of the chamber’s Finance Committee. He will also serve as the new senate majority leader, replacing Sen. Nancy King, D-Montgomery, who was defeated in the June primary election.
In both jobs, Feldman is being charged with reconstituting the Senate Rules and Operations Committee, which will be vice chaired by Senate President Pro Tem Malcolm Augustine, a Prince George’s County Democrat who is running unopposed in Tuesday’s election.
Before he joined the Senate in 2012, Feldman was elected to the House of Delegates in 2002. He is also running unopposed.
In his stead, Sen. Dawn Gile, D-Anne Arundel, is poised to take the helm of the Senate Education, Energy and the Environment Committee. She was elected to the Senate in 2022, and Republican Amy Leahy is running against her this cycle.
Sen. Benjamin T. Brooks Sr., a Baltimore County Democrat who has served in the chamber since 2023, will serve as the committee’s vice chair in the place of Sen. Cheryl Kagan, D-Montgomery. Brooks is running unopposed, while Kagan faces Republican challenger Helene Meister next week.
Kagan was appointed as Senate liaison for national legislative affairs Thursday.
Sen. Antonio Hayes, D-Baltimore City, is Ferguson’s pick to lead the Senate Finance Committee in place of Chair Pamela Beidle, D-Anne Arundel, who opted not to run for reelection this year. According to a Thursday news release, Hayes will be the first Black man to chair the committee.
He has served as the committee’s vice chair since 2025 and was elected to the Senate in 2018 after a term in the House. Sen. Katie Fry Hester, D-Howard and Montgomery, was named his vice chair. She was elected to serve in the Senate in 2018.
Alan Rebar of the Working Class Party is running against Hayes in the general election. Hester takes on Republican Ben Hightower.
Senate Budget and Taxation Committee Chair Guy Guzzone, D-Howard, maintains his position as he campaigns unopposed.
Sen. Cory McCray, D-Baltimore City, has been appointed the new vice chair of the chamber’s Budget and Taxation Committee in the stead of Sen. Jim Rosapepe, D-Anne Arundel and Prince George’s.
McCray was elected to the Senate in 2018 after serving a term in the House. He doesn’t have a challenger either, while Rosapepe goes head-to-head with Republican Lee Havis.
Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee Chair William C. Smith Jr. and Vice Chair Jeffrey D. Waldstreicher, both D-Montgomery and running unopposed, will maintain their positions.
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