Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) will choose between two Democrats to fill a House of Delegates vacancy in District 27B.
The Calvert County Democratic Central Committee voted Thursday night to recommend Rachel Jones, a field liaison to U.S. Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin (D-Md.), to replace new state Sen. Michael A. Jackson (D-Prince George’s) in the House.
Two nights earlier, the Prince George’s County Democratic Central Committee recommended Jacqueline Steele McCall, a one-time aide to former U.S. Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) for the job. Jones previously worked for Mikulski.
The House seat came open last month, after Jackson was elevated to the Senate following the departure of former Senate president Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D), who resigned in late December and died last month. Because District 27B takes in parts of Prince George’s and Calvert counties, the Democratic central committees in both jurisdictions have a say over Jackson’s replacement.
But because the two Democratic committees could not agree — opting for a hometown candidate in each county — Hogan gets to pick between Jones and McCall. In all, eight Democrats applied for the vacancy and were interviewed by the central committees.
Jones has worked in the Senate for almost eight years, joining Cardin’s office from Mikulski’s staff in 2016. A graduate of Morgan State University, she previously worked for former state Sen. Nathaniel J. McFadden (D-Baltimore City).
McCall, who currently works as a marketing consultant, spent six years on Mikulski’s Senate staff. She has also worked for G.S. Proctor and Associates, Inc., an Annapolis lobbying firm. A University of Maryland graduate, McCall was a candidate for the House seat in the Democratic primary in 2014, but finished a distant third.
Hogan now has 15 days to make his selection.
Josh Kurtz
Founding editor
Founding Editor Josh Kurtz is a veteran chronicler of Maryland politics and government. He began covering the State House in 1995 for The Gazette newspapers, and has been writing about state and local politics ever since. He was an editor at Roll Call, the Capitol Hill newspaper, for eight years, and for eight years was the editor of E&E Daily, which covers energy and environmental policy on Capitol Hill. For 6 1/2 years Kurtz wrote a weekly column on state politics for Center Maryland and has written for several other Maryland publications as well. Kurtz regularly gives speeches and appears on TV and radio shows to discuss Maryland politics.
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