Former Delegate Christian J. Miele (R) is launching a campaign for the open District 34 Senate seat in Harford County on Friday.
Miele, who served one term in the House representing Baltimore County, will seek the Republican nomination for the seat currently held by Sen. Robert Cassilly (R), who is leaving the Senate to run for county executive.
After narrowly losing a Senate bid in 2018, Miele has served as Maryland’s deputy secretary of disabilities and moved with his family to Harford County, where his wife, Jessica, grew up.
“Public service is in my DNA and relocating 20 minutes up the road doesn’t change the fact that I believe I still have a lot to offer the State of Maryland, as well as the community where Jess and I will be working and raising our two little boys,” Miele said in a campaign announcement.
Former Delegate Christian Miele is running to represent Harford County in the state Senate. Campaign photo.
An attorney, Miele will run his firm’s Bel Air office when his political appointment in the Hogan administration comes to an end. His wife’s job was also recently transferred to the town.
He plans to hold a campaign kickoff event on Aug. 5 at Independent Brewing Company.
If elected, Miele said he will focus on helping Maryland’s working families and small businesses recover from hardships brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and will “continue to be a strong voice for the law enforcement community, military veterans, and first responders, and … a champion for Maryland taxpayers.”
Miele is the second Republican to announce plans to run for the seat. Walter “Butch” Tilley III, president of York Insurance Services Inc. and president of the Harford County Sheriff’s Foundation, filed to enter the race last month.
Democrats may view the district as a pick-up opportunity as well: Cassilly won re-election by fewer than 200 votes in 2018; his Democratic challenger, former Del. Mary-Dulany James, essentially stayed off the campaign trail following the death of her daughter just a few weeks before the election.
Danielle E. Gaines
Contributor
Danielle Gaines worked for Maryland Matters from September 2018 to January 2024. She covered government and politics for Maryland Matters for two years before moving into an editing position, ultimately serving as editor-in-chief for nearly three years. Previously, she spent six years at The Frederick News-Post ― as the paper’s principal government and politics reporter for half that time, covering courts and legal affairs before that. She also reported for the now-defunct The Gazette of Politics and Business in Maryland and previously worked as a county government and education reporter at The Merced Sun-Star in California’s Central Valley.
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