Woorman sworn in to House seat, Ivey’s seat already being eyed, other moves

The House of Delegates is one vacancy shy of a full chamber following the swearing-in Monday of a new delegate from Montgomery County.

Newly minted Del. Teresa Saavedra Woorman (D-Montgomery) was sworn-in during a ceremony in the House chamber. The aide to Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich (D) is just the most recent in a string of vacancy-related appointments to the legislature over the last two years.

“Today is the second greatest honor in my life, and I’ll explain why. I was born in Mexico, and as many of you guys know, I moved here when I was 9,” Woorman, 32, said following Monday’s ceremony. “I went to these awesome schools like Northwest High School and Montgomery College and University of Maryland, and those were great honors.

“But the first great honor of my life was to become a U.S. citizen,” she said. “I was jumping up and down at my naturalization ceremony. I’m jumping up and down inside right now because my ankle is still healing.”

Woorman was appointed by Gov. Wes Moore (D) roughly a week ago, after the Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee nominated her to fill the open seat in the three-member District 16 delegation on July 12.

She fills the vacancy created when Del. Sara Love was tapped to fill the district’s seat in the state Senate that was vacated by Sen. Ariana B. Kelly (D) – who, herself, moved from the House to the Senate to fill the vacancy left by District 16 Sen. Susan Lee, who was chosen by Moore to serve as secretary of State. Love was sworn into the Senate on June 13.

One opening currently remains in the House, a vacancy created in District 38B by the departure of Del. Carl Anderton (R-Wicomico), who recently accepted a job with the Moore administration.

Last week, the Wicomico County Republican Central Committee nominated Salisbury businessman and county GOP Chair Barry Beauchamp, to replace Anderton. That nomination awaits final approval by Moore.

Ivey’s – still filled – seat already being sought

Ryan Middleton, a former staffer with U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin (D), announced Monday he will seek the 5th District seat on the Prince George’s County Council – even though that seat is currently held by Council Chair Jolene Ivey (D) and is not scheduled to be up for another two years.

But Ivey is currently leading in the Democratic primary to run in a special election in November for a vacant at-at-large seat on the council, representing the entire county. According to unofficial results, Ivey maintains a large lead in the primary with about 85% of the ballots counted. Votes will not be certified until Friday.

If Ivey maintains that lead, along with Republican front-runner Michael Riker, they would face off in the Nov. 5 general election. But Ivey would be favored to obtain the seat in the heavily Democratic jurisdiction.

As for Middleton, he released a more-than-two-minute video Monday morning summarizing his family background and work for the county, talking with residents and embracing state Del. Jazz Lewis (D-Prince George’s).

In an interview Monday afternoon, Middleton said his long-term plans are making sure the county’s main projects come to fruition, such as the relocation of the FBI headquarters to Greenbelt.

“It is going to take a very firm and long view of the county to make sure that these projects actually bear the fruit that we want them to,” Middleton said. “Otherwise, we could have the FBI headquarters come in and it would just be a big building that sits there. The county does not get any tax revenue from big federal installations like that. We get the tax revenue from the ecosystem that it brings with it: retail, dining, the residential tax base that comes with it.”

Middleton said constituent services “was ingrained” during his time in Cardin’s office as a field representative for Prince George’s for about 4 1/2 years.

The 35-year-old Democrat has worked for the county since 2018. He currently serves as director of CountyStat, an office that has data analysts who measure the effectiveness of county agencies.

Besides helping to assess the county budget, the agency has six priorities: beautification, flooding, permitting, time to fill positions, reducing violent crime and procurement. One example Middleton gave is coordinating two different agencies to work as one to handle possible flooding and other issues.

“We need them working together in concert with each other so we can move the ball down the field in the most sufficient way,” he said.

Middleton is scheduled to travel to Chicago next week to serve as a Maryland delegate at the Democratic National Convention.

As the Annapolis lobbying world turns

The Annapolis-based lobbying and government relations firm Evans and Associates has brought on a new lobbyist. The firm announced Monday it has hired Ron M. Young as a senior government affairs specialist.

Young served most recently as director of intergovernmental and legislative affairs for Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks (D). He has also been a managing partner of McMillan & Young Consultants, a lobbying and consulting firm in Washington, D.C., representing clients on policy issues including food security, transportation and health care, while providing advisory services on matters before the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration.

Before that, Young served as a legislative director within the Maryland General Assembly, committee staff for the U.S. Senate Agricultural Committee, and as a policy staff member with the NAACP.

“Over the course of my career, I have had the chance to work within every level of government to benefit children and families that were long overlooked, while providing employers with a seat at the table on decisions that will affect jobs and private investment,” Young said in a statement. “I firmly believe the best lobbyists enable their clients to do good while doing well.”