For as long as I can remember, politics in Cecil County has been about neighbors talking to neighbors, local issues, and home-grown candidates earning the trust of the people they seek to represent.
Unfortunately, that tradition is being threatened. Recently, the Maryland Freedom Caucus, a group of political operatives based in St. Mary’s County, mailed multiple political attack pieces targeting me and misrepresenting my voting record. They have taken similar actions in other parts of our State. I have no problem defending my record. In fact, I welcome it. What concerns me is the growing trend of outside organizations attempting to influence local elections through misleading mailers, social media disinformation, half-truths, and outright falsehoods. Cecil County deserves better.
The Maryland Freedom Caucus doesn’t want to have an honest discussion about the facts. Instead, they have chosen to spend money attacking a real Republican while supporting a candidate whose campaign is overwhelmingly funded by people who do not live in Cecil County. According to campaign finance reports, nearly 89 percent of my opponent’s campaign fundraising has come from just four out-of-state donors. Think about that for a moment.
The same organization attacking me for representing Cecil County values is supporting a candidate whose financial support comes almost entirely from a handful of individuals outside our community. That raises an important question: Who should decide who represents Cecil County in Annapolis? The people of Cecil County, or outside organizations and donors with their own political agenda?
I was elected to represent the people of Cecil County in the Maryland House of Delegates. I’m not beholden to political operatives, special interests, or dark money organizations that do not live here, do not vote here, and do not understand our community.
The deceptive mailers in question begin by referencing an amendment, HB 118-2019 amendment/863121/2, that was offered by the self-appointed Chair of the Freedom Caucus. Until this amendment was proposed, no legal authority for the disbursement of legislative scholarships for illegal immigrants existed. The amendment, as offered, established a funding mechanism for granting legislative scholarships to undocumented citizens, to which I am opposed. I am personally against using state dollars for any entitlements, scholarships or subsidies, to illegal immigrants, and while the “Freedom Caucus” may have had similar intent, their amendment was flawed, poorly prepared, and ultimately failed.
Outside interests have also falsely suggested that I support abortion by criticizing my vote on legislation involving access to contraceptives in Community Colleges, SB 532/HB 1076-2026. That accusation is simply untrue. I have proudly earned the endorsement of Maryland Right to Life throughout my legislative career. The legislation in question did not fund abortion, expand abortion access, direct individuals to abortion providers, or alter Maryland's abortion laws. It dealt with access to contraceptives for adults. In fact, many pro-life advocates have long argued that preventing unintended pregnancies helps reduce the number of abortions. To claim otherwise is a deliberate attempt to mislead voters.
Another false claim concerns HB 324-2025, regarding anti-bias training in public schools for elected school board members. I believe elected officials are the first line of defense against woke DEI policies, content, and instruction. During the bill testimony and in my subcommittee meetings it was discovered that school board members did not have access to, nor did they have the ability to take, the courses mandated to teachers. This effectively prevented school board members from weighing in on the content. Passage of this bill put the power to oversee the content taught in the anti-bias courses where it belongs, with the elected school board members. The bill as written also included anti-bullying measures, which we were able to add as an amendment, addressing antisemitic bullying and how to prevent it in our schools. As the longest serving Republican member on the House Ways & Means Education Subcommittee, I felt that this bill added transparency and gave our school board members the tools they need to address the training as they saw fit, rather than rely on Wes Moore’s interpretation of “bias.” Many Republican colleagues agreed, and the bill passed with bipartisan support.
The mailers also misrepresent my vote on legislation regarding civil rights education. HB-493 - 2025 in no way mandates curriculum for students. It simply equips teachers with access to information about civil rights history, which I support. The bill did not mandate curriculum or force adoption of new coursework and preserved local control, so I voted YES. As often happens, the “Freedom Caucus,” who have no members serving on any committees with any input into education bills, misread the bill and created a false narrative.
Finally, the most egregious claim was to portray me as supporting higher taxes. Nothing could be further from the truth. I have NEVER voted for a tax or fee increase during my time in the Maryland General Assembly. I voted NO on EVERY Budget and associated legislation that included tax and fee increases. I have consistently fought against policies that make life more expensive for Maryland families because I believe taxpayers are already carrying too much of a burden. I have applied that same tenacity to pass bipartisan tax cuts for Veterans, seniors, working families, and first responders.
Reasonable people can disagree on policy. Debate is healthy and necessary in our system. What is not healthy is when outside organizations spend money to spread blatant misinformation in an attempt to influence a local election. The Maryland Freedom Caucus is free to support my opponent - who recently moved here from another county. My opponent is free to campaign on blindly following them in Annapolis. But Cecil County voters deserve honest debate based on facts, not misleading hit pieces weeks before the election funded by outside interests.
For generations, Cecil County has chosen its own leaders. We never asked for Annapolis activists, political organizations, or outside money to tell us who should represent our community. At the end of the day, my responsibility is not to the Maryland Freedom Caucus, bogus scorecards, or special interests. My responsibility is to the people of Cecil County.
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