Meet the 2015 Maryland General Assembly’s sizable freshman class

By Jenna Johnson
The Washington Post

When the Maryland General Assembly reconvenes on Wednesday, there will be a sea of new lawmakers taking the oath of office.

This crop of freshmen includes a former drug dealer, a liberal blogger and a saloon owner. There are three medical doctors, several military veterans and a guy who has worked for 25 years at a plant that produces construction materials.

Here’s one interesting fact about each of the 69 newest members of the House of Delegates and Senate:

Jason C. Buckel (R-Allegany): He wants higher pay for corrections workers because “Maryland often seems to take care of violent prisoners better than it takes care of the men and women who do the difficult jobs in our prisons.”

Mike McKay (R-Allegany): He is the president and chief executive officer of Allegany Management Services, a “progressive and professional dry cleaning and restoration firm.”

Brett Wilson (R-Washington): He is a prosecutor who focuses on cases of child abuse and molestation, but plans to cut back to part-time hours during the 90-day session.

Carol L. Krimm (D-Frederick): She really thinks commuter buses should be allowed to drive on the shoulder.

Karen Lewis Young (D-Frederick): She has three rescued dogs named Yitzhak, Andy and Poppy.

William “Bill” Folden (R-Frederick): His campaign motto was: “Let’s put a ‘Bill’ in Annapolis we can trust!”

David E. Vogt III (R-Frederick): He was named “Marine of the Year” by the Military Times in 2010 — and got to meet Nancy Pelosi at a Capitol Hill ceremony.

Haven Shoemaker (R-Carroll): His dad worked on a GM assembly lineand was laid off for most of the 1970s, so the family often lived in trailer parks.

Robin L. Grammer Jr. (R-Baltimore County): To pay his way through college, he worked at Worthington Steel in Baltimore.

Bob Long (R-Baltimore County): He was endorsed by Dean Crawford, a Baltimore-based country music singer who touts himself as one of the “most booked and hardest working country music entertainers in the Tri-State Area.”

Ric Metzgar (R-Baltimore County): He announced his candidacy at the corner of Woodward Drive and Eastern Boulevard in Essex.

Christian Miele (R-Baltimore County): Before going to law school, he was the coordinator for Fraternity and Sorority Life at Towson University.

Trent Kittleman (R-Howard): She tried running for Howard County Executive in 2010 but lost to Ken Ulman (D), who ran and lost for lieutenant governor this year. Her step-son, Allan H. Kittleman, is Howard County’s new executive.

Bob Flanagan (R-Howard): According to his campaign bio: “His communications skills are widely recognized.” (Flanagan was also thesecretary of transportation under Maryland’s last Republican governor, Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.)

Benjamin Brooks (D-Baltimore County): More than 30 years ago, he started B&R Brooks Professional Tax Service.

Jay Jalisi (D-Baltimore County): He is a medical doctor who has co-authored two books on diseases of the ears, nose and throat.

Shelly Hettleman (D-Baltimore County): She spent six years as thecampaign manager for U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.).

Eric Ebersole (D-Baltimore County): He teaches math at Reservoir High School in Howard County.

Terri L. Hill (D-Howard): She is a cosmetic plastic surgeon who sometimes makes house calls.

Clarence K. Lam (D-Howard): He was the student-body president at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, in the 2005-2006 school year.

Vanessa Atterbeary (D-Howard): While a student at Atholton High School in Howard County, she was the teen editor of the County Globe Newspaper.

Marc Korman (D-Montgomery): He thinks that the Metro system “is failing” and has a three-part plan to fix it.

Andrew Platt (D-Montgomery): He is the son of a mail carrier and was the first in his family to graduate from college.

Marice I. Morales (D-Montgomery): She works for a Maryland AFL-CIO union as a wage investigator.

David Moon (D-Montgomery): He founded Maryland Juice, which he describes as a “politics blog with a decidedly activist bent.”

Will Smith (D-Montgomery): After college, he enrolled in Americorps and was a community engagement leader for IMPACT Silver Spring. He now serves on their board.

Erek Barron (D-Prince George’s): He and his wife, Taria Barron, worship at Reid Temple, AME in Glenn Dale.

Angela Angel (D-Prince George’s): She was the youngest African American female elected to the 2000 Democratic National Convention.

Darryl Barnes (D-Prince George’s): He founded Men Aiming Higher, a non-profit that targets at-risk young men between the ages of 16 and 29 and provides tutoring, leadership training, mentoring and community service opportunities.

Tony Knotts (D-Prince George’s): When Knotts decided to run, he learned that — thanks to Maryland’s latest round of redistricting — his Temple Hills home was no longer in the district he wanted to represent. So he moved.

Michael A. Jackson (D-Prince George’s): He used to be the county sheriff.

Edith J. Patterson (D-Charles): She was the first black to serve on the Charles County Board of Commissioners.

Matt Morgan (R-St. Mary’s): He grew up on a tobacco farm outside of La Plata.

Deb Rey (R-St. Mary’s): She was in the Air Force for 20 years. Her favorite assignment involved collaborating with the Army to speed the delivery of personnel and equipment to combat zones and disaster areas.

Seth Howard (R-Anne Arundel): He is a life member of the South County Future Farmers of America.

Ned Carey (D-Anne Arundel): Since the day he was born, Carey has lived in the same house in Brooklyn Park.

Meagan C. Simonaire (R-Anne Arundel): She has traveled to every continent except Antarctica.

Mark S. Chang (D-Anne Arundel): He ran for this same seat in 2006 — but as a Republican — and lost.

Sid Saab (R-Anne Arundel): He was born in Lebanon and immigrated to the United States as a teenager, with only a few hundred dollars to his name.

Mary Ann Lisanti (D-Harford): She is a fourth-generation Harford Countian and lives in her childhood home outside of Havre de Grace.

Kevin Bailey Hornberger (R-Cecil): He is a facility engineer at the Library of Congress.

Andrew Cassilly (R-Harford): He is the Harford County Public Schoolsresource conservation manager, charged with making the school system more eco-friendly and energy-efficient.

Teresa Reilly (R-Harford): She jointly launched her campaign with Del. H. Wayne Norman Jr. (R-Harford) at Dove Valley Vineyards in Rising Sun.

Jeff Ghrist (R-Caroline): He met his wife, Michele, in high school, and they married soon after college.

Sheree Sample-Hughes (D-Wicomico): She was the first African American woman elected to the Wicomico County Council.

Christopher T. Adams (R-Wicomico): He considers himself an amateur chef.

Johnny Mautz (R-Talbot): Since 1981, his family has owned Carpenter Street Saloon in St. Michaels. A few years ago, he took over management.

Carl Anderton Jr. (R-Wicomico): He was the mayor of Delmar for two terms.

Mary Beth Carozza (R-Worcester): She grew up in Ocean City and worked at the family business, Beefy’s on 17th Street, before spending nearly three decades working for the state and federal government.

Antonio Hayes (D-Baltimore): There are more than 30 community associations in his district, and he plans to attend as many of their public meetings as possible.

Chris West (R-Baltimore County): He used to be the executive directorof the state Republican Party. 

Charles E. Sydnor III (D-Baltimore County): He is a senior attorney at Enterprise Community Partners, a non-profit based in Columbia that aims to increase the amount of affordable housing.

Pat Young (D-Baltimore County): He is the coordinator of the Towson University Department of Veterans Services.

Cory V. McCray (D-Baltimore): He was a drug dealer as a teenager and spent his 18th birthday in a Baltimore jail cell.

Brooke Elizabeth Lierman (D-Baltimore): While campaigning, she knocked on more than 10,000 doors.

Diana M. Fennell (D-Prince George’s): She’s the former mayor of Colmar Manor.

Jimmy Tarlau (D-Prince George’s): He’s a longtime labor activist who is the assistant to the vice president of Communications Workers of America.

Will Campos (D-Prince George’s): He has a bachelors degree from the University of Maryland in ancient art history.

Michael Hough (R-Frederick): Wait, he’s not really a newbie. Hough was a one-term delegate and just jumped over to the Senate. His last name is pronounced Huff. 

Johnny Ray Salling (R-Baltimore County): Salling has worked for 25 years at Lafarge, a plant at Sparrow’s Point that produces construction materials.

Gail Bates (R-Howard): And another not-really-new-face. Bates served in the House for 12 years. She is active in “Ladies in Leadership,” which recruits, trains and supports conservative women running for legislative office.

Guy Guzzone (D-Howard): And another. Guzzone was a delegate for eight years. He is an Eagle Scout.

Susan C. Lee (D-Montgomery): Okay, this is getting old. Lee has been a delegate since 2002. She has led commissions or task forces on cybersecurity, telemedicine and nanobiotechnology.

Cheryl C. Kagan (D-Montgomery): Yet again, not really a newbie. Kagan was a delegate from 1995 to 2003. She has a milkshake named in her honor at Chick and Ruth’s Delly on Annapolis’s Main Street.

Steve Waugh (R-St. Mary’s): As a U.S. Marine, Waugh spent thousands of hours at the controls of AV-8 Harrier jump jets.

Bob Cassilly (R-Harford): As a student at Bel Air High in the 1970s, he was named to all-county football and all-county orchestra.

Wayne Norman (R-Harford): And another hallway jumper. Norman was appointed to a seat in the House in 2008. He likes restoring antique cars with his son.

Adelaide Eckardt (R-Dorchester): She has been a delegate since 1995. She is a retired nurse who specialized in psychiatric care and mental health.

Shirley Nathan-Pulliam (D-Baltimore County): And another. She has been a delegate since 1995 — and was the first Caribbean-born person elected to the Maryland General Assembly.

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