Maryland State Senator

The Maryland Senate is the upper house of the Maryland General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. State of Maryland. One Senator is elected from each of the state's 47 electoral districts. As of January 2015, 33 of those seats are held by Democrats and 14 by Republicans. The leader of the Senate is known as the President, a position currently held by Thomas V. Mike Miller, Jr., who represents Calvert, Charles and Prince George's counties. In addition, Senators elect a President Pro Tempore, and the respective party caucuses elect a majority and minority leader and a majority and minority whip.

Senators are elected in even-numbered years when the President of the United States is not being elected, similar to most other state offices in Maryland. The most recent election was in November 2014. Senators are not term-limited. Should a Senator resign from office before his or her term expires, the local central committee of the party to which the retiring senator belonged makes a recommendation to the Governor for whom to appoint to the open seat. It is tradition for the Governor to appoint the recommended person. Four of the current members of the Maryland State Senate were originally appointed, two of whom have since been elected in their own right. Newly elected Senators are sworn in and begin work on the second Wednesday of the January following their election.

Each Senator has at least one standing committee assignment. The first is to one of the four legislative committees: Budget and Taxation; Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs (listed in this table as Education, Health, and Environment); Finance; or Judicial Proceedings. A number of Senators have secondary committee assignments, most prominently to the Executive Nominations Committee, which oversees the constitutional responsibility of the Senate to approve nominations by the Governor. Assignment to the Rules or Executive Nominations committees or to any Ad Hoc committees is not noted.

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