A view of the Maryland State House through a nearby office window. Photo by Danielle E. Gaines.
Two of the three delegates in Baltimore County’s legislative District 8 plan to compete for the state Senate seat left vacant by former state Sen. Kathy Klausmeier’s appointment last week as Baltimore County executive.
Dels. Harry Bhandari (D) and Carl Jackson (D) told Maryland Matters Monday that they will ask the Baltimore County Democratic Central Committee to recommend them to Gov. Wes Moore (D) for the Senate appointment. The central committee is accepting applications for the vacancy through Jan. 22.
Klausmeier’s Senate seat is one of three current openings in the General Assembly, and three local Democratic central committees have their appointment procedures underway. The other vacancies are a Senate seat in Baltimore City’s District 41 and a House seat in Anne Arundel County’s District 30A.
The appointees will hold their seats through at least January 2027, but can seek full four-year terms in 2026. Depending on how the two currently vacant Senate seats are filled, there could be more legislative vacancies later this month.
In Baltimore City’s District 41, the deadline to apply to replace former Sen. Jill P. Carter (D) is Wednesday at 5 p.m. The eight voting members of the city’s Democratic Central Committee from District 41 will meet next Tuesday evening to recommend a replacement to Carter, who resigned on Jan. 3 to become a member of the Maryland Board of Contract Appeals.
Speculation on possible successors has focused on Democratic Dels. Malcolm Ruff and Dalya Attar and Baltimore City Councilmember Isaac “Yitzy” Schleifer (D). None could be immediately reached for comment Monday evening. The third delegate from District 41, Samuel I. “Sandy” Rosenberg (D), said Monday he is not seeking the Senate appointment and was not sure which of his colleagues might apply for the Senate seat.
Attar was first elected in 2018, and was the top House vote-getter in the 2022 Democratic primary; Schleifer has held his council seat since 2016.
Ruff was appointed to the House by Moore in 2023, after Moore tapped then-Del. Tony Bridges (D) for a top job at the Maryland Department of Transportation. The central committee deadlocked on its recommendation between Ruff, an attorney in powerful Baltimore law firm Murphy, Falcon & Murphy, and Angela Gibson, a former delegate who had been appointed to her seat but lost a bid for a full term in the 2018 Democratic primary.
In District 8, Bhandari and Jackson are both arguing that they’re the best equipped candidate to keep the Senate seat in Democratic hands in 2026.
“I strongly feel like I can defend that seat,” Bhandari said, pointing to the fact that he was the top vote-getter in the district among House candidates in 2022, when he won a second term.
Jackson is touting endorsements for the Senate appointment from American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 3, the union representing state government workers, and the Baltimore County Fraternal Order of Police.
“I look forward to being a partner and a champion for all workers in Annapolis,” he said.
Jackson ran unsuccessfully for the seat in 2018 and then was appointed to the House a year later after longtime Del. Eric Bromwell (D) resigned to take a job with the Baltimore County government.
The 8th District’s third delegate, Nick Allen (D), who was elected in 2022, pondered seeking the Senate appointment but has decided to stay put.
“With all the challenges facing our state and county, we require focus and continuity in leadership, which is why I am firmly planting my feet in District 8, as your Delegate, advocate, and neighbor,” Allen said in a statement late Friday. “I look forward to working closely with District 8’s next Senator and I intend to run with them as a team in 2026.”
District 8, which takes in several communities, including Perry Hall, White Marsh, Parkville and Rosedale, has typically been a swing district and for more than two decades sent Republicans and Democrats to Annapolis. But after the most recent round of legislative redistricting, the district has become far more secure for Democrats.
The six members of the Baltimore County Democratic Central Committee from the 8th District will forward the name of a recommended successor for Klausmeier to Moore. The date for that meeting has not been set yet.
In District 30A, candidates are applying to fill a vacancy created when then-Del. Shaneka Henson (D) was elevated earlier this month to the Senate after former Anne Arundel Sen. Sarah K. Elfreth (D) was sworn into the U.S. House of Representatives.
Dylan Behler, a former top aide to Elfreth and a member of the central committee, was the first to announce his intention to seek the House appointment.
“I have the experience — both tangible and intangible — that will enable me to deliver to
the residents of District 30A on day one,” Behler said in a statement on Sunday.
Behler, who is the legislative director at the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, cited his political work for Elfreth and his time on the 2018 campaign of Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman (D) that helped “flip our County from red to blue to ensure our teachers, police, and firefighters were supported.”
Behler also touted his “lived experience,” growing up poor in Anne Arundel County and being part of the first generation of his family to attend college.
“It is clear now more than ever that we need leaders who can show up and deliver for every community in District 30A and Anne Arundel County — regardless of race, ethnicity, creed, sexuality, gender, or political beliefs,” he said in his statement. “I am the best person to do just that.”
Annapolis Alderman Brooks Schandelmeier (D) is also planning to apply for the House vacancy. “We’re getting things ready,” he said in an interview Monday.
Chrissy Holt, an Annapolis Democratic and progressive activist who lost the 2018 Democratic Senate primary to Elfreth, taking 41% of the vote at the time, is also expected to seek the House appointment. She did not respond to an email request for comment on Monday.
The Anne Arundel County Democratic Central Committee will be taking applications for the appointment through Jan. 22. An interview date for the candidates has not yet been scheduled — though the full central committee, rather than just members from the district, will forward a recommendation to Moore.
Candidates for the District 30A vacancy have been invited to speak to the Eastport Democratic Club breakfast meeting on Jan. 24 in Annapolis.