Editor’s note: This story was originally published on April 24, 2025 at 9:20 a.m. It was updated on April 24, 2025 at 4:27 p.m. to correct that seven legislators were appointed by MCDCC in 2023 and 2024.
Montgomery County Del. Linda Foley (D-Dist. 15) says she’s frustrated after her bill calling for special elections to fill legislative seats again failed to pass during the 2025 Maryland General Assembly session, despite overwhelming support in the Senate.
“The fact that this didn’t pass … I mean, it’s beyond ridiculous and without a good reason,” Foley told Bethesda Today in an interview last week.
A bill sponsored by Foley, who represents Potomac in the House, and cross-filed by state Sen. Cheryl Kagan (D-Dist. 17), who represents parts of Rockville and Gaithersburg, would have required special elections to fill legislative vacancies in certain circumstances. The legislation proposed an amendment to the state constitution to deal with the issue of filling legislative vacancies statewide. Similar bills have been unsuccessful over the past several years.
“It’s disappointing that the House wasn’t yet ready to move such a commonsense bill for the voters’ consideration,” Kagan told Bethesda Today last week. “All we were doing is sending it to the voters and asking them what they think. That seems a reasonably low bar to entry. We’re not even passing a law. We’re passing a measure that will put it before the voter.”
Versions of the legislation like the bills sponsored by Foley and Kagan have failed four times in five years. Similarly to this year, the legislation has often been held up in the House – not necessarily failing to garner votes, but not even appearing on an agenda. In the past, some members of House of Delegates have expressed that the appointment process offers a decreased cost and low barrier to entry to becoming a representative, which could potentially offer opportunities for more marginalized community members.
The lawmakers with whom Bethesda Today spoke said they didn’t believe the bills were held up this year due to objections over their content. Rather, a lack of urgency surrounding the issue in light of the legislature’s focus on priorities including dealing with a dismal budget outlook, changes to the state’s education reform plan and support for laid-off federal workers may have contributed to their demise, they said.
In addition, the special elections issue may not have drawn as much attention in other jurisdictions as it has in Montgomery County in recent years.
Montgomery County is represented by 35 legislators in the General Assembly, making up one of the largest contingencies in the legislature. But 40% of those legislators were initially appointed by the county Democratic Party’s central committee instead of being chosen by voters in an election.
In 2023 and 2024, the Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee (MCDCC) appointed seven legislators to fill vacancies in the state legislature. While the committee has faced scrutiny for this process, it’s the only way a mid-term legislative vacancy can be filled under current state law. The state constitution requires the political party of the lawmaker vacating a seat to nominate a person to fill the vacancy within 30 days after it occurs and to submit the nominee’s name to the governor, who approves it as a formality.
The bill sponsored by Foley and Kagan would have required that, in the event of a legislative vacancy, a special election for the seat be held at the same time as the regular statewide primary and general elections — if the vacancy occurs on or before the date that is 55 days before the candidate filing deadline for that election. If a vacancy occurred more than two years into a legislator’s four-year term, a special election would not be required and a political party’s central committee could fill the seat.
Kagan’s bill received a favorable vote on the Senate floor on Feb. 27 and successfully “crossed over” to the House of Delegates before the March 17 deadline, but was never placed on an agenda for the House Ways and Means Committee, meaning it was never subject to a vote. Foley’s version of the bill never made it past an initial hearing held by the same committee.
“Every year, people say, ‘Well, we ran out of time. Well, we had other priorities.’ You know, it’s always something,” Foley said. “No one opposed this bill.”
A compromise
The legislation was considered by many to be a compromise, as it would still allow appointments in some circumstances. Several MCDCC members voiced support for the bill during public hearings.
Jayson Spiegel, an MCDCC member representing District 17, supported the bill at a Feb. 5 Senate committee hearing. He argued that under the current system, committee members who do not live in a district that has a vacancy have the disproportionate power to fill that vacancy even though they would not be able to vote in a regular election for candidates running to represent that district.
“[The legislation] would continue the benefits of the appointment process – lower cost and a pathway to elected office for traditionally disadvantaged communities, while also making that process more participatory and inclusive,” Spiegel said. “Empowering the district voters to fill vacancies will not only provide greater voice to district residents, it will also restore public confidence in the process.”
Foley said she is confused about why the bill didn’t make it through the House, given that most people within and outside of the legislature with whom she spoke, including state Democratic Party leadership, were supportive.
“An argument that I’m going to make to [House] leadership [next year], is ‘Look, you just came through a really tough budget year and a lot of taxes on people.’ This would be a great way to show we have faith in the people of Maryland,” Foley said.
Del. Jheanelle Wilkins (D-Dist. 20), who represents Silver Spring, serves as the chair of the Election Law subcommittee under the Ways and Means Committee. Wilkins, who was appointed herself by the MCDCC in 2017 but has since been re-elected by voters, was perceived by some political commentators over the past few years as the lawmaker holding up consideration of special elections legislation. Wilkins has expressed support for how the appointment process could lead to more diversity in the legislature due to the lower barrier to entry.
However, her committee position does not grant her power to place legislation on an agenda. The chair of the Ways and Means Committee, Del. Vanessa Atterbeary (D-Dist. 13), who represents Howard County, sets the agenda.
Atterbeary’s office and a press contact for the Ways and Means Committee did not respond to Bethesda Today’s requests for comment last week.
Foley said Wilkins met with her to discuss the legislation multiple times during the 2025 legislative session and seemed eager to move it forward and support Foley.
“I think [Wilkins] has kind of unfairly gotten too much of the blame for this [not moving forward],” Foley said.
At a Bethesda Chevy Chase Democratic Breakfast Club meeting in November 2024, Wilkins expressed her support for Foley and Kagan’s bills in advance of the 2025 session.
“It’s not a perfect solution, but I think it’s something that’s our best solution and I think it’s time for us to move forward with special elections legislation and reforms,” Wilkins told those in attendance.
Wilkins told Bethesda Today on Friday that she supported the legislation, and wanted to see it pass. She said while she doesn’t believe special elections are inherently problematic as members of the central committees are also elected by voters, the number of appointments required in recent years indicates a need for reform.
“I think it was a good compromise,” Wilkins said. “The fact that this bill is one that would have an important effect but would not be [expensive] is something that is important as well.”
Wilkins said she believes the legislation wasn’t considered as important as other priorities that lawmakers were tackling during the 90-day session, including determining a state budget for the coming fiscal year in the face of $3 billion spending deficit.
This legislative session was difficult for many lawmakers, with the debate over the proposed state operating budget continuing until a vote during the final hours of the closing day, and the need to deal with last-minute changes affecting funding for the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future education reform plan. The delay in making these major decisions led to fewer opportunities for bills to pass under the wire on the last day, known as “sine die.”
“This was an extremely tough year this legislative session with the budget issues, the assault on our democracy, our workers and our state,” Wilkins said. “It fell very heavily on the Ways and Means Committee, both around the conversations on the Blueprint, which we played a lead role in addressing and also around revenues. Those were some of the top issues of the entire legislative session.”
Another option for filling legislative vacancies
Wilkins said she also supported another bill dealing with legislative vacancies, sponsored by Del. Julie Palakovich Carr (D-Dist. 17) who represents parts of Rockville and Gaithersburg in the House of Delegates and cross-filed in the Senate by Sen. Clarence Lam (D-Dist. 12) of Anne Arundel and Howard counties. This legislation took a different approach than the legislation proposed by Foley and Kagan.
It would have created new requirements for central committees when conducting internal elections to fill vacancies, including standards for advertising the vacancy and opening the voting meeting to the public, with the intent of improving transparency, according to Palakovich Carr. Currently, MCDCC follows these protocols.
However, the bill also would have required any member of a central committee who has applied to fill a vacancy to recuse themselves from voting on candidates to fill the vacancy, which is not currently the practice of the MCDCC.
In May 2023, MCDCC members controversially voted to reject a proposed rule that would have restricted members from voting to appoint themselves into the legislature, as well as a proposed amendment that would have merely recommended members recuse themselves from such votes.
MCDCC member Liza Smith, who represents Dist. 14 and has been a frequent critic of the current legislative vacancy appointment process, testified in support of Palakovich Carr’s legislation at a Feb. 5 Ways and Means committee hearing. Smith said she was most impressed with the provision that would require committee members running for a vacancy to recuse themselves from voting.
“That’s a small ask, because at the end of the day, the person who’s sitting next to you [in the central committee] can’t vote for themselves,” Smith said.
Palakovich Carr’s bill received a favorable vote from the House of Delegates and “crossed over” to the Senate but was never scheduled for an introduction in the Senate.
Wilkins noted that if the special elections bill passes, “we still have appointments, and we still need to make sure that central committees have transparency.”
She also noted there’s currently no legal requirement for applications to be available to the public.
“It’s important that residents and constituents can see the full information on who is applying, making sure that the applications are open, but also that the vote is public and transparent,” Wilkins said.
Palakovich Carr was out of town last week and unavailable for comment.
Trying again in 2026
Kagan told Bethesda Today that she “assumes” she will reintroduce the legislation that she and Foley sponsored, or some version of it, during the 2026 session. But she has concerns.
“Next year, incidentally, is the election year,” Kagan said. “People are going to be distracted. I don’t know whether they will have the interest in passing it next year.”
Foley said she wants to try again in 2026 and has ideas for new strategies. One strategy is working across the aisle with Republican colleagues such as House Minority Leader Jason Buckel (R-Dist.1B) of Allegheny County, who told Foley he supports her legislation, according to Foley.
“It’s pretty easy to make an argument: Look, we’ve got a new [gubernatorial] administration coming in [in 2027]. Even if [Gov. Wes] Moore is reelected, he’s going to be hiring all over again from the General Assembly,” Foley said. “We’re going to end up with these vacancies that we need to fill.”
Wilkins said she believes 2026 will be the year for the legislation related to special elections to finally pass.
“This is a bill that would not impact any current vacancies and the upcoming vacancies this term, and it would still need ratification in 2026,” Wilkins said. “There was a sense that this is something that could come up in the next legislative session. But at this moment, I don’t have any concern about it not passing, and I think that this was an important session for the bill. There’s ongoing interest and momentum on it.”
Kagan said moving forward with such measures is even more important in light of the ongoing changes at the federal level.
“At a time when the Trump-Musk administration is threatening democracy and literally undoing little ‘D’ democratic principles, this ballot measure reinforces our commitment to democracy,” she said. “It states loudly that the voters should be able to pick their legislators, rather than political committees picking the legislators.”
