| Sarah Elfreth | |
| State: | Maryland |
| Term Start: | January 3, 2025 |
| Predecessor: | John Sarbanes |
| Succeeding: | John Sarbanes |
| State Senate1: | Maryland |
| District1: | 30th |
| Term Start1: | January 9, 2019 |
| Predecessor1: | John Astle |
| Birth Date: | 9 September 1988 |
| Birth Place: | Barrington, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Party: | Democratic |
| Education: | Towson University (BA) Johns Hopkins University (MPP) |
| Signature: | Sarah Elfreth signature.svg |
Sarah Kelly Elfreth[1] (born September 9, 1988) is an American politician who has served as a member of the Maryland Senate representing the 30th district since 2019.
Born and raised in New Jersey, Elfreth moved to Maryland to study political science at Towson University and later earn a MPP from Johns Hopkins University. She became involved with Maryland politics while attending Towson, during which she was appointed by Governor Martin O'Malley to be a student member of the University System of Maryland Board of Regents. After graduating, Elfreth moved to Annapolis, where she successfully ran for the Maryland Senate in 2018, defeating Republican challenger and former state delegate Ron George in the general election. She was reelected in 2022. Her district encompasses the lower half of Anne Arundel County, including the state capital of Annapolis.
Elfreth won the 22-way Democratic primary in the U.S. House of Representatives election in Maryland's 3rd congressional district and then defeated the Republican nominee in the general election. She will be sworn in on January 3, 2025.
Elfreth was born and raised in Barrington, New Jersey,[2] where her stepfather worked as a locomotive engineer and her mother worked as a probation officer.[3] She is of English descent and is a descendant of Jeremiah Elfreth, who was the namesake of Elfreth's Alley in Philadelphia.[4]
Elfreth graduated from Haddon Heights High School in 2006, and attended Towson University on scholarship, where she served as a resident assistant,[5] submitted a thesis on how having students participate in governing boards can make them more effective,[6] and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science in 2010.[7] In 2012, she earned her Master of Science degree in public policy from Johns Hopkins University, where she worked as a research assistant in the Office of Government and Community Affairs from 2010 to 2012.[8] Since 2019, Elfreth has taught as an adjunct professor for Towson University's Honors College.[9]
Elfreth became active in politics while attending Towson University, when she became involved with student government and began traveling to Annapolis to lobby the Maryland General Assembly. She also worked as a summer intern for state senator James Rosapepe.[10] In 2009, Maryland governor Martin O'Malley appointed Elfreth to be the student member of the University System Board of Regents.[11] She didn't become involved with electoral politics until her senior year at Towson, after hearing a speech by former Vermont Governor Madeleine Kunin. She briefly served in the office of House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer before working as the Government Affairs Director at the National Aquarium of Baltimore. After moving to Annapolis, Elfreth became involved with local politics, becoming a member of the Ward 1 Residents Association and serving on the District 30 Democratic Club, and volunteering for the campaigns of multiple local Democratic officials.
In June 2017, Elfreth filed to run for Maryland Senate, seeking to succeed state Senator John Astle, who did not seek re-election to run for Mayor of Annapolis.[12] During the Democratic primary, she ran on a slate with House Speaker Michael E. Busch, whom she would later cite as her political mentor.[13] Elfreth was elected to the Maryland Senate with 53.8 percent of the vote against former state delegate Ron George.[14]
Elfreth was sworn into the Maryland Senate on January 9, 2019.[15] As of 2024, she is the youngest woman ever to serve in the Maryland Senate.[16] [17] Elfreth is a member of the Budget and Taxation Committee—including as the chair of its Pensions and Public Safety, Transportation, and Environment subcommittee and as a member of its Capital Budget subcommittee—and is the chair of the Joint Committee on the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bay Critical Areas and Joint Subcommittee on Program Open Space and Agricultural Land Preservation. She was regarded as one of the most productive members of the legislature, having passed 84 bills during her tenure, more than any other legislator during that time.
Elfreth served as an at-large delegate to the 2020[18] and 2024 Democratic National Conventions.[19] As of May 2024, she had plans to campaign for Joe Biden in Pennsylvania during the 2024 presidential election.
In 2022, Elfreth served as the chair of the Chesapeake Executive Council.[20] [21]
On November 4, 2023, Elfreth announced that she would run for the U.S. House of Representatives in Maryland's 3rd congressional district to succeed John Sarbanes, who had announced his retirement a week before.[22] During the Democratic primary, which developed into a three-way race between Elfreth, Clarence Lam, and Harry Dunn,[23] [24] Elfreth campaigned on environmental issues, abortion rights, and healthcare,[25] [26] and received support from U.S. senators Barbara Mikulski and Ben Cardin, and from several Anne Arundel County-based legislators.[27] [28] [29]
Elfreth was the only candidate in the race who expressed openness to accepting campaign contributions from corporate political action committees, saying that she would accept donations from corporations within the district,[30] and received more than $4 million[31] in support from AIPAC's United Democracy Project super PAC.[32] Elfreth defended her campaign receiving support from AIPAC by saying she did not solicit the support and that she would support campaign finance reform if elected to Congress, referencing Sarbanes's For the People Act.[33] AIPAC's contributions, as well as the $1 million in contributions she received from supporters, allowed her campaign to overcome the fundraising gap between her and Dunn, who had raised $4 million during his campaign.
Elfreth won the Democratic primary election on May 14, 2024,[34] and defeated Republican nominee Rob Steinberger in the general election on November 5, 2024. She is the youngest woman ever elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Maryland.[35] She and April McClain-Delaney will be the first women to represent Maryland in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2016, when Donna Edwards retired to unsuccessfully run for the U.S. Senate.[36] Elfreth will resign from the Maryland Senate on January 2, 2025, and a successor will be nominated by the Anne Arundel County Democratic Central Committee and appointed by Governor Wes Moore. State delegates Shaneka Henson and Dana Jones have both applied to fill the vacancy.[37]
Elfreth will be sworn in on January 3, 2025. Before the start of the 119th Congress, Elfreth unsuccessfully ran for freshman class representative for the Democratic Caucus, placing second in a three way race that included California freshman U.S. Representative-elect Luz Rivas and Washington freshman U.S. Representative-elect Emily Randall.[38]
During the 2021 legislative session, Elfreth voted for the Maryland Police Accountability Act and supported an unsuccessful Republican amendment to the bill that would require law enforcement agencies to keep a record of positive community feedback.[39]
During debate on a bill to give the attorney general of Maryland prosecutorial power in police-involved deaths in 2023, Elfreth voted for amendments that would allow states attorneys' to decide first whether to prosecute a case, and another to appoint a director of the investigations division. Both amendments were rejected in largely party-line votes.[40]
In June 2023, following a shooting in Annapolis that left three dead and another three injured, Elfreth attended a vigil to honor the victims of the attack and endorsed calls for accountability from state legislators.[41]
During her tenure as the student member of the University System of Maryland Board of Regents, Elfreth voted against a three percent tuition increase[42] and spoke in support of Governor Martin O'Malley's four-year tuition freeze.[43] She also played a role in gathering opposition to a resolution recommending against a policy on pornographic films following the screening of at the University of Maryland, College Park, convincing other board members that there was no way to create such a policy without infringing on freedom of speech.[44]
During the 2019 legislative session, Elfreth introduced legislation to expand the Board of Regents' membership and implement additional oversight reforms.[45] The bill passed both chambers unanimously[46] and was signed into law by Governor Hogan on April 30, 2019.[47]
During her 2024 congressional campaign, Elfreth campaigned for school board candidates running against candidates endorsed by Moms for Liberty, saying that she viewed the "threat Moms for Liberty poses to our boards of education as one of the greatest threats to democracy." In October 2024, after The Baltimore Banner reported that Anne Arundel County school board candidate Chuck Yocum had a history of child sexual abuse charges stemming from his teaching job at Northeast High School, Elfreth called for Yocum to drop out of the school board race.[48] Yocum was narrowly defeated by Erica McFarland in the general election on November 5, 2024.[49]
While a student at Towson University, Elfreth testified in support of a bill to increase polling places at college campuses and make it easier for college students to register to vote.[50]
During the 2021 legislative session, Elfreth introduced legislation to create an "Office of Digital Inclusion" in the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development.[51] The bill passed and was signed into law by Governor Hogan on April 13, 2021.[52] She also introduced legislation that would require the state's Commission on Environmental Justice and sustainable Communities to "reflect the racial, gender, ethnic, and geographic diversity of the state".[53] The bill passed[54] and became law on May 30, 2021.[55]
Also in 2021, Elfreth introduced the "Student and Military Voter Empowerment Act", which would require higher education institutions to create websites to provide students with voting information and allow military members to register to vote using their Department of Defense Common Access Card. The bill passed[56] and became law without Governor Larry Hogan's signature on May 30, 2021.[57] [58]
During debate on a bill that would allow the Maryland State Board of Elections to tabulate mail-in ballots before election day in 2022, Elfreth was one of two Democratic state senators to vote for a Republican amendment that would have limited people to picking up and delivering only 10 ballots for other voters.[59]
During the 2020 legislative session, Elfreth proposed legislation to allow jurisdictions to create Resilience Authorities to provide funding to large infrastructure projects related to sea level rise, nuisance flooding, and erosion.[60] She also co-sponsored legislation to expand the public's role in rehabilitation projects in the Chesapeake Bay Bridge resurfacing project.[61]
During the 2021 legislative session, Elfreth introduced various environmental bills, including:[62]
During the 2022 legislative session, Elfreth introduced legislation that would require the Maryland State Retirement and Pensions System to consider climate change as a financial factor when making investment decisions.[63] The bill passed and became law on April 9, 2022.[64] [65]
In 2023, Elfreth introduced a bill to establish a State Disaster Recovery Fund to help jurisdictions recover from natural disasters. The bill passed and was signed into law by Governor Wes Moore.[66] [67]
During the 2024 legislative session, Elfreth was one of three senators to vote against a bill to ease restrictions around backup generators for data centers in Maryland.[68]
In June 2023, Elfreth spoke in support of the Gun Safety Act, which increased the requirements and fees to obtain handgun permits and limited where gun owners could carry their weapons.[69] During the 2024 legislative session, Elfreth introduced a bill to levy an eleven percent excise tax on firearm sales to fund the state's trauma system.[70]
Elfreth supports a two-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict and strengthening Israel–United States relations. She opposes conditioning U.S. aid to Israel, saying that she believed that "all nations have a responsibility in supporting humanitarian aid to the region as the only way to begin the very long road towards a peaceful two-state solution". During her 2024 congressional campaign, she supported a permanent ceasefire in the Israel–Hamas war conditioned on the return of Hamas-held hostages and the provision of additional humanitarian aid, but criticized "unbalanced and nuanced" state and local resolutions calling for a ceasefire. She also expressed concerns with some of Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's public statements during the war, but said that conversations on Israel's leadership and governance should be handled in private between it and the United States.[71]
Elfreth traveled to Israel for the first time in July 2023, visiting locations including an Iron Dome battery, the West Bank, religious sites, and a Hezbollah tunnel on the Lebanese border. She met with a Palestinian National Authority official during her visit, after which she expressed concerns with "some verbiage" used by the official and an evasive answer about the authority's failure to hold elections in the region.
Elfreth supported an amendment introduced by U.S. senator Chris Van Hollen that would condition U.S. foreign aid on a country's compliance with international law, though a spokesperson clarified her belief "that Israel is acting in accordance with these laws"[72] and later reiterated that she would only support requiring countries to comply with existing conditions as opposed to establishing new conditions.[73]
In June 2024, Elfreth signed onto a Maryland Healthcare for All pledge to support legislation to extend Inflation Reduction Act-provided healthcare benefits beyond 2025.[74]
Elfreth condemned the January 6 United States Capitol attack, saying that those who participated in the attack should be referred to as terrorists.[75]
During the 2020 legislative session, Elfreth introduced legislation to provide Maryland workers with up to 12 weeks of paid family leave, funded by a payroll tax shared equally by the worker and employer.[76]
Elfreth supports abortion rights, describing access to abortion services as a matter of economics.[77] [78] During the 2024 legislative session, she introduced a bill to provide abortion clinics in Maryland with $500,000 in grants toward physical security infrastructure.[79]
During the 2019 legislative session, Elfreth introduced a resolution to designate June 28 as "Freedom of the Press Day" in honor of the five killed at the Capital Gazette shooting.[80] The bill passed unanimously[81] and became law on April 18, 2019.[82] In June 2019, Governor Hogan signed a proclamation declaring June 28 to be "Freedom of the Press Day" in Maryland.[83]
During the 2021 legislative session, Elfreth introduced legislation to provide students access to menstrual products in school bathrooms.[84] The bill passed and became law on May 30, 2021.[85]
During the 2022 legislative session, Elfreth introduced the "Great Maryland Outdoors Act", which would increase staffing, expand recreational amenities, and improve equity of access for Maryland state parks.[86] The bill passed and became law on April 24, 2022.[87] She also introduced the "David Perez Military Heroes Act", which provides state funding for psychedelic research to help military veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder, which passed and became law.[88]
In October 2022, after The Baltimore Banner published a report accusing Gunpowder Falls State Park manager Michael Browning of presiding over a toxic work environment that senior park service officials had failed to address despite receiving multiple employee complaints since 2015,[89] Elfreth and House majority leader Eric Luedtke wrote to Maryland Secretary of Natural Resources Jeannie Haddaway-Riccio calling for an independent review into the Maryland Department of Natural Resources' handling of employee reports.[90] Haddaway-Riccio did not address legislators' call for an independent investigation in her response letter, instead saying that the department's human resources division was investigating the misconduct allegations "in consultation with the Maryland Department of Budget and Management and the Office of the Attorney General" and that she had taken "appropriate actions to address the situation"[91] by firing assistant Gunpowder park manager Dean Hughes[92] and state park superintendent Nita Settina.[93]
In March 2023, Elfreth was one of five Democrats to vote for an amendment to decouple the state's gas tax from inflation. The amendment was rejected by the Maryland Senate in a 20-27 vote.[94]
During her 2024 congressional campaign, Elfreth said she supported rebuilding the Francis Scott Key Bridge.