As she prepared to transition from her six years in the Maryland Senate to her new post in Congress, U.S. Rep. Sarah K. Elfreth (D-3rd) became a major benefactor to her Democratic colleagues.
One of his new colleagues, freshman Rep. Johnny Olszewski Jr. (D-2nd), may be poised to become an even bigger donor.
New campaign finance records submitted last week to the Maryland State Board of Elections showed that Elfreth diverted $122,500 from his state campaign account to other Democratic candidates and causes in the months that followed his victory in the May Democratic primary for the open congressional seat. Elfreth was unable to use that account, which contained $140,241 last January, for her congressional bid, which she launched in November 2023.
Elfreth raised and spent about $2.1 million to win the race to replace former U.S. Rep. John Sarbanes (D) in the 3rd District this November.
Elfreth’s ability to act as a financial angel for his Democratic colleagues is not that unusual. Dozens of former state elected officials are keeping campaign fundraising committees open long after they leave office. And some drain their campaign funds by helping their political colleagues.
A year ago, former State Senator Melony G. Griffith (D-Prince George’s) donated $140,000 from her state campaign funds to fellow Democrats after resigning to become president of the Maryland Hospital Association. Over the past year, campaign records show, she distributed an additional $32,281 to political candidates.
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But depending on what he decides to do with his excess campaign cash, Olszewski, who like Elfreth was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in November, could become one of the biggest political donors of Maryland to other political leaders in the state in recent memory.
Olszewski, who previously served as Baltimore County executive, spent about $1.3 million in federal campaign funds to win the race to replace former U.S. Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D). But he keeps more than $1.7 million in his state campaign account, which he created to run for county executive in 2018.
Olszewski has not distributed any campaign money from his war chest to his political colleagues over the past year, according to his campaign finance report. He paid $1,000 in the fall to the Maryland League of Conservation Voters — where his wife works — to sponsor an event.
Federal law on electoral campaign financing prevents candidates for federal office from using campaign funds they amassed in state campaign funds except for a few discrete purposes. Candidates have the option to return money to contributors to state campaign accounts and ask them to donate again to their federal campaign committees.
Elfreth now has $13,458 in his state campaign fund. Maryland’s new U.S. Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D), after winning a multimillion-dollar race for her Senate seat, kept $121,755 in her state campaign account as of Jan. 8, which she had retained from his previous campaigns for Prince George’s County Executive. She has not distributed any money to political candidates in the past year.
Elfreth has made the following contributions to fellow Democrats over the past year, according to his latest campaign finance report. Most involved candidates in his congressional district:
- $6,000 to the Anne Arundel County Democratic Central Committee
- $500 to House Ways and Means Chairwoman Vanessa E. Atterbeary (D-Howard)
- $1,000 to Del. Heather Bagnall (D-Anne Arundel)
- $1,000 to Del. J. Sandy Bartlett (D-Anne Arundel)
- $1,000 to Dylan Behler, a member of the Anne Arundel County Democratic Central Committee who applied to fill a vacancy in the House of Delegates
- $4,000 to Sen. Pamela Beidle (D-Anne Arundel)
- $500 to Annapolis Alderman Brooks Schandelmeier (D)
- $3,000 to the Carroll County Democratic Central Committee
- $6,000 to Howard County School Board Member Andrea Chamblee
- $2,000 to Del. Mark S. Chang (D-Anne Arundel)
- $25,000 to Maryland Senate Democratic Caucus Committee
- $500 to Anne Arundel County School Board Member Gloria Dent
- $5,000 to Carroll County School Board candidate Muri Dueppen
- $1,000 to prosecutor Jessica Feldmark (D-Howard)
- $500 to Prince George’s County Council Member Wanika Fisher (D)
- $1,000 for Reproductive Freedom-Maryland
- $1,500 to Montgomery County Council Member Andrew Friedson (D)
- $1,000 to Annapolis mayoral candidate Jared Littman (D)
- $500 to Annapolis City Councilwoman Karma O’Neill (Democrat)
- $500 to Westminster Mayor Mona Becker
- $1,000 to Annapolis Alderwoman and mayoral candidate Rhonda Pindell Charles (D)
- $1,000 to Howard County State’s Attorney Richard Gibson (D)
- $4,000 to Sen. Dawn Gile (D-Anne Arundel)
- $1,000 to Howard County Sheriff Marcus Harris (Democrat)
- $2,000 to Sen. Katie Fry Hester (D-Howard and Montgomery)
- $1,000 to the House Democratic Caucus Campaign Committee
- $500 to Anne Arundel County Council Member Julie Hummer (D)
- $500 to Annapolis Alderman Harry Huntley (D)
- $5,000 to Del. Dana Jones (D-Anne Arundel)
- $6,000 to Carroll County School Board candidate Amanda Jozkowski
- $1,000 for the Keep Our Judges 2024 list
- $1,000 to Anne Arundel State’s Attorney Anne Colt Leitess (D)
- $2,500 to Howard County School Board Member Jennifer Mallo
- $6,000 to the Maryland Democratic Party
- $500 to Anne Arundel County School Board Member Sarah McDermott
- $6,000 to Anne Arundel County School Board Member Erica McFarland
- $3,000 to Anne Arundel County Council member and county executive candidate Allison Pickard (D)
- $2,500 to Rep. Andrew Pruski (D-Anne Arundel)
- $500 to Howard County School Board Member Margaret Ricks
- $4,000 to Anne Arundel County School Board Member Dana Schallheim
- $1,000 to Slate for student success
- $4,000 to Anne Arundel County School Board Member Joanne Bache Tobin
- $2,000 to Del. Courtney Watson (D-Howard)
- $500 to Del. Jheanelle K. Wilkins (D-Montgomery)
- $4,000 to Anne Arundel County School Board candidate Jeremy York
Beyond the former state and local officials who now serve in Congress, several former state elected officials are keeping their campaign funds open.
Under state lawThey are allowed to keep their campaign committees open for eight years after their last term – or eight years since they last participated in a state or local election. They are able to distribute funds to other political committees, charities, local boards of education, public institutions of higher education, or the state’s Fair Campaign Fund, which provides public funding to candidates for the post of governor who request it.
Sometimes these excess campaign funds can be very controversial. When former Baltimore County Executive Jim Smith (D) left office in 2010, he withheld $476,380 in his campaign committee. He transferred this money to the account of an entity known as the Baltimore County Victory Fund, which he then used to help his political allies.
Most importantly, the committee provided a crucial $100,000 loan to Catherine Pugh (D), then a state senator running for mayor of Baltimore, as she battled in a tough Democratic primary in 2016. Pugh won and rewarded Smith with a six-figure score. work at town hall.
Griffith, the former state senator turned hospital association executive, hasn’t given as much money to her political colleagues over the past year as the year before, although her declaration of campaign finance showed she made contributions to at least 18 political candidates and entities, including $6,000 to the Maryland Democratic Party and $6,000 to House Appropriations Chairman Ben Barnes (D-Prince George’s and Anne Arundel).
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Several former state legislators who left the legislature after being appointed to high positions in state government by Gov. Wes Moore (D) continue to have open campaign accounts.
Secretary of State Susan Lee, who spent two decades in the Legislature, still had $271,290 in her war chest on Jan. 8, after donating $2,000 to Rep. Jolene Ivey (D-) Council of Prince George, and $1,000 to Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller (D). over the past year.
Maryland Public Service Commission member Kumar P. Barve, who served in the House of Delegates from 1991 to 2023, kept $76,797 in his campaign account on January 8. He has made $8,250 in campaign donations over the past year, including $2,000 to the lieutenant governor. .
Another former longtime lawmaker, Paul Pinsky, director of the Maryland Energy Administration, began 2024 with nearly $100,000 in his old campaign account. But he donated $85,000 last year to a University of Maryland scholarship fund established in the name of his late wife, educator Joan Rothgeb. He still had $13,449 in the bank on January 8.
Former state Sen. Jill P. Carter (D-Baltimore City) resigned earlier this month after Moore appointed her to the State Board of Contract Appeals. She had $89,989 in the bank on Jan. 8 and made $2,500 in donations to political committees after her resignation: $1,000 each to Dels. Gabriel Acevero (D-Montgomery) and Malcolm P. Ruff (D-Baltimore City) and $500 to Del. Caylin Young (D-Baltimore City).
Ruff, who represents the same district as Carter, looking for an appointment to replace her in the Senate. Baltimore City Democratic Central Committee members from District 41 meet Tuesday evening to interview candidates and recommend a successor to Moore, who makes the appointment.
Then there’s state Treasurer Derek Davis (D), a former state delegate who broke with tradition by continue fundraising for his campaign committee since he was appointed treasurer by the General Assembly at the end of 2021.
It is perfectly legal, but rarely practiced. Most state treasurers are seasoned public servants whose elevation to treasurer is usually the highlight of a long career — and they don’t need to run campaigns because they are appointed by the legislature. But Davis suggested that at 57, he might still have a political chance in him and that he wants to remain viable.
Davis reported raising $43,525 between Jan. 11, 2024, and Jan. 8 of this year — mostly from the same lobbyists and special interest groups that filled his campaign fund when he was chairman of the powerful Economic Issues Committee of the House. Davis ended the reporting period with $37,564 on hand. He only donated $1,000 to political candidates in the past year.