BALTIMORE — As Maryland lawmakers grapple with a nearly $3 billion budget deficit, a group of Republican Maryland delegates are pushing back on the state’s Democratic-controlled Legislature and a financial crisis they see as the majority party’s making.
On Tuesday, they launched the Maryland Freedom Caucus to advance conservative policies and take action in a state they think needs “saving.”
Maryland is the 13th state to join the State Freedom Caucus Network, a conservative national organization that aims to build on the work of the House Freedom Caucus in Congress.
“Maryland was one of the 13 original colonies, and I’ll tell you the truth, we need to get back to the values, the principles and the ideas that set that revolution in motion in the first place,” said Del. Matt Morgan, a Republican representing St. Mary’s County who will chair the caucus.
Del. Kathy Szeliga, a Baltimore County Republican, will serve as vice chair. Other Republican members include Del. Ryan Nawrocki and Del. Robin Grammer, both of whom represent Baltimore County, as well as Anne Arundel County Del. Brian Chisholm, Calvert County Del. Mark Fisher and Harford County Del. Lauren Arikan.
Morgan said the group affiliated themselves with the broader network because they believe the state is “worth saving.”
“I think they can help us do our jobs better, help us represent our citizens,” he said. “We believe there’s been a void in conservative leadership in this state for quite some time, and we’re going to fill that void now.”
Though Morgan acknowledged Maryland as a blue state, it did shift more toward president-elect Donald Trump in the 2024 election, he said. Just over 1 million Maryland voters, or 34%, cast their ballots for Trump, compared to 1.9 million, or 62%, who voted for current Vice President Kamala Harris.
“That is a lot of families who voted for him, that’s a lot of families and taxpayers voting for that agenda,” he said. “I think their agenda and their values and principles deserve to be heard.”
Joining the broader freedom caucus network also will give Maryland’s Republican legislators resources to tap into across the country, Nawrocki said. Bills the Maryland caucus plans to bring forward, for instance, are “pieces of model legislation” that have already been passed in other states, he added.
U.S. Rep. Andy Harris, Maryland’s lone Republican in Congress who chairs the House Freedom Caucus, said it was “about time” Maryland had a group aiming to restore fiscal responsibility in the state.
Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat, is expected to release his fiscal 2026 budget Wednesday morning. In an op-ed published in The Baltimore Sun Tuesday morning, the governor wrote that he would ask Marylanders who have done “exceptionally well financially” to contribute more to make targeted investments in economic growth.
“That’s what Democrats do: They raise taxes, and it will be no exception tomorrow,” Harris said of Moore’s op-ed. “You need a group that pushes back … In this country, those who elected President Trump [as] president believe the time of taking money from citizens to expand the scope and size of government has to come to an end.”
Morgan said the caucus plans to release its agenda over the next week. Priorities will include public safety, immigration, energy affordability and independence, among others.
“This isn’t a red agenda, blue agenda — this is an American agenda that is based on promise, and we’re going to continue to push Maryland be safer, freer and more prosperous,” he said.
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