List of current members of the Maryland Senate

Party Composition of Maryland State Senate districts.

The Maryland Senate is the upper house of the Maryland General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. State of Maryland. One Senator is elected from each of the state's 47 electoral districts. As of January 2015, 33 of those seats are held by Democrats and 14 by Republicans. The leader of the Senate is known as the President, a position currently held by Thomas V. Mike Miller, Jr., who represents Calvert, Charles and Prince George's counties. In addition, Senators elect a President Pro Tempore, and the respective party caucuses elect a majority and minority leader and a majority and minority whip.

Senators are elected in even-numbered years when the President of the United States is not being elected, similar to most other state offices in Maryland. The most recent election was in November 2014. Senators are not term-limited. Should a Senator resign from office before his or her term expires, the local central committee of the party to which the retiring senator belonged makes a recommendation to the Governor for whom to appoint to the open seat. It is tradition for the Governor to appoint the recommended person.^[1] Four of the current members of the Maryland State Senate were originally appointed, two of whom have since been elected in their own right.^[2] Newly elected Senators are sworn in and begin work on the second Wednesday of the January following their election.^[3]

Each Senator has at least one standing committee assignment. The first is to one of the four legislative committees: Budget and Taxation; Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs (listed in this table as Education, Health, and Environment); Finance; or Judicial Proceedings. A number of Senators have secondary committee assignments, most prominently to the Executive Nominations Committee, which oversees the constitutional responsibility of the Senate to approve nominations by the Governor. Assignment to the Rules or Executive Nominations committees or to any Ad Hoc committees is not noted.

Current party composition

Composition as of the beginning of the 2015-2018 term on January 14, 2015:

During the 2011-2015 term, the State Senate was made up of 35 Democrats and 12 Republicans. Republicans gained two seats (District 6 in Baltimore County and District 29 in Calvert and St. Mary's counties) in the elections held on November 4, 2014.^[4] Democrats maintain a super-majority in the chamber despite these changes. Article II, Section 17(a) of the Maryland Constitution specifies it takes a three-fifths vote of both chambers to override a veto,^[5] which is 29 votes in the State Senate. The rules of the Senate also permit members to limit debate by a three-fifths majority vote, meaning Republicans would need to gain five additional seats, for a total of 19, in order to sustain a veto or filibuster legislation.

Current leadership

The below table reflects the current leadership of the Maryland State Senate as of February 24, 2017.^[6]

Current State Senators

Members of the Maryland State Senate as of the conclusion of the 437th session of the Maryland General Assembly on Monday, April 10, 2017.^[7]

District	Jurisdiction(s) represented	Image	Senator	Party	First elected	Primary committee
1	Allegany, Garrett, and Washington[7]		George C. Edwards[8]	Republican[8]	2006[8]	Budget and Taxation[8]
2	Washington[7]		Andrew A. Serafini[9]	Republican[9]	Appointed and sworn in on February 2, 2015[9]	Budget and Taxation[9]
3	Frederick[7]		Ronald N. Young[10]	Democratic[10]	2010[10]	Education, Health and Environmental Affairs[10]
4	Carroll and Frederick[7]		Michael Hough[11]	Republican[11]	2014[11]	Judicial Proceedings[11]
5	Carroll[7]		Justin Ready[12]	Republican[12]	Appointed and sworn in on February 2, 2015[12]	Judicial Proceedings[12]
6	Baltimore County[7]		Johnny Ray Salling[13]	Republican[13]	2014[13]	Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs[13]
7	Baltimore County and Harford[7]		J. B. Jennings[14]	Republican[14]	2010[14]	Finance[14]
8	Baltimore County[7]		Katherine A. Klausmeier[15]	Democratic[15]	2002[15]	Finance[15]
9	Carroll and Howard[7]		Gail H. Bates[16]	Republican[16]	2014[16]	Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs[16]
10	Baltimore County[7]		Delores G. Kelley[17]	Democratic[17]	1994[17]	Judicial Proceedings (Vice-Chair)[17]
11	Baltimore County[7]		Robert Zirkin[18]	Democratic[18]	2006[18]	Judicial Proceedings (Chair)[18]
12	Baltimore County and Howard[7]		Edward J. Kasemeyer[19]	Democratic[19]	First elected 1986; did not seek reelection in 1990; reelected 1994[19]	Budget and Taxation (Chair)[19]
13	Howard[7]		Guy Guzzone[20]	Democratic[20]	2014[20]	Budget and Taxation[20]
14	Montgomery[7]		Craig Zucker[21]	Democratic[21]	Appointed February 3, 2016 and sworn in February 4, 2016[21]	Education, Health and Environmental Affairs[21]
15	Montgomery[7]		Brian J. Feldman[22]	Democratic[22]	Appointed September 12, 2013 and sworn in September 17, 2013; first elected 2014[22]	Finance[22]
16	Montgomery[7]		Susan C. Lee[23]	Democratic[23]	2014[23]	Judicial Proceedings[23]
17	Montgomery[7]		Cheryl C. Kagan[24]	Democratic[24]	2014[24]	Education, Health and Environmental Affairs[24]
18	Montgomery[7]		Richard S. Madaleno, Jr.[25]	Democratic[25]	2006[25]	Budget and Taxation (Vice-Chair)[25]
19	Montgomery[7]		Roger Manno[26]	Democratic[26]	2010[26]	Budget and Taxation[26]
20	Montgomery[7]		Will Smith[27]	Democratic[27]	Appointed December 13, 2016 and sworn in December 21, 2016[27]	Judicial Proceedings[27]
21	Anne Arundel and Prince George's[7]		James Rosapepe[28]	Democratic[28]	2006[28]	Finance[28]
22	Prince George's[7]		Paul G. Pinsky[29]	Democratic[29]	Appointed August 1, 1994 and sworn in August 2, 1994; first elected November 1994[29]	Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs (Vice-Chair)[29]
23	Prince George's[7]		Douglas J.J. Peters[30]	Democratic[30]	2006[30]	Budget and Taxation[30]
24	Prince George's[7]		Joanne C. Benson[31]	Democratic[31]	2010[31]	Finance[31]
25	Prince George's[7]		Ulysses Currie[32]	Democratic[32]	1994[32]	Budget and Taxation[32]
26	Prince George's[7]		C. Anthony Muse[33]	Democratic[33]	2006[33]	Judicial Proceedings[33]
27	Calvert, Charles and Prince George's[7]		Thomas V. Mike Miller, Jr.[34]	Democratic[34]	1974[34]	President of the Senate[b][34]
28	Charles[7]		Thomas M. "Mac" Middleton[35]	Democratic[35]	1994[35]	Finance (Chair)[35]
29	Calvert, and St. Mary's[7]		Steve Waugh[36]	Republican[36]	2014[36]	Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs[36]
30	Anne Arundel[7]		John Astle[37]	Democratic[37]	1994[37]	Finance (Vice-Chair)[37]
31	Anne Arundel[7]		Bryan Simonaire[38]	Republican[38]	2006[38]	Education, Health and Environmental Affairs[38]
32	Anne Arundel[7]		James E. DeGrange, Sr.[39]	Democratic[39]	1998[39]	Budget and Taxation[39]
33	Anne Arundel[7]		Edward R. Reilly	Republican	Appointed June 22, 2009; first elected 2010[a]	Finance
34	Harford[7]		Robert Cassilly	Republican	2014	Judicial Proceedings
35	Cecil and Harford[7]		Wayne Norman	Republican	2014	Judicial Proceedings
36	Caroline, Cecil, Kent, and Queen Anne's[7]		Stephen S. Hershey, Jr.	Republican	Appointed September 18, 2013 and sworn in October 1, 2013; first elected 2014	Finance
37	Caroline, Dorchester, Talbot, and Wicomico[7]		Adelaide C. Eckardt	Republican	2014	Budget and Taxation
38	Somerset, Wicomico, and Worcester[7]		James N. Mathias, Jr	Democratic	2010	Finance
39	Montgomery[7]		Nancy J. King	Democratic	Appointed and sworn in September 5, 2007; first elected 2010	Budget and Taxation
40	Baltimore City[7]		Barbara A. Robinson	Democratic	Appointed on December 13, 2016 and sworn in December 21, 2016	Education, Health and Environmental Affairs
41	Baltimore City[7]		Jill P. Carter	Democratic	Appointed and sworn in April 30, 2018	Finance
42	Baltimore County[7]		James Brochin	Democratic	2002	Judicial Proceedings
43	Baltimore City[7]		Joan Carter Conway	Democratic	Appointed and sworn in January 7, 1997; first elected 1998[a]	Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs (Chair)
44	Baltimore City and Baltimore County[7]		Shirley Nathan-Pulliam	Democratic	2014	Education, Health and Environmental Affairs
45	Baltimore City[7]		Nathaniel J. McFadden	Democratic	1994	Budget and Taxation
46	Baltimore City[7]		William Ferguson	Democratic	2010	Budget and Taxation
47	Prince George's[7]		Victor R. Ramirez	Democratic	2010	Judicial Proceedings

Notes

^a This Senator was originally appointed to office by the Governor to fill an open seat.

^b The President of the Senate does not serve on any of the four standing legislative committees. He does, however, serve on both the Executive Nominations and the Rules Committees.

See also

• List of current members of the Maryland House of Delegates

References

General

• "Maryland at a Glance: Government". Maryland Manual On-line. Maryland State Archives. Retrieved 2009-05-15.
• "Maryland Senate - Committees". Maryland Manual On-line. Maryland State Archives. Retrieved 2009-05-15.

Specific

External links

• Maryland General Assembly