Kathy Szeliga

Szeliga was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in October 1961. She is of Polish descent.[2] She was raised in a military family, her father being a lieutenant colonel in the US Army. Szeliga married her husband in 1980, and the couple struggled financially at first. Szeliga worked as a dishwasher, a maid, and a housekeeper. She entered college in her 30s, enrolling at Towson State University and graduating summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in elementary education. She began working as a teacher in Baltimore City Public Schools and started a construction business with her husband. She began her political career after a family friend, James M. Kelly, was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates. She worked as a legislative aide to Del. James M. Kelly, then for Del. John G. Trueschler, and eventually became chief of staff for then-State Senator Andy Harris. Szeliga decided to run for Delegate after Del. J. B. Jennings decided to run for State Senate. She was elected and immediately placed on the Appropriations Committee.[3][2][4][5][6]

Szeliga serves on the Environment and Transportation Committee (since 2015), Rules and Executive Nominations Committee (since 2014), and Legislative Policy Committee (since 2015). She was previously a member of the Appropriations Committee (2011–15), House Emergency Medical Services System Work Group (2012), and Joint Committee on the Selection of the State Treasurer (2015). She is a member of the Women Legislators of Maryland Caucus (since 2011), Maryland Legislative Sportsmen's Caucus (since 2012), and Maryland Veterans Caucus (since 2012).[3]

In April 2013, Delegate Szeliga was elected into leadership by her peers and serves as the Whip in the House Republican Caucus. She serves with Leader Nic Kipke of Anne Arundel County. Szeliga is the highest-ranking Republican woman in Maryland's state legislature and has been described as one of the most powerful female politicians in the state.[7][8]

Del Szeliga

Szeliga has maintained a presence on both Facebook and Twitter (since 2015 and 2009, respectively). She uses both accounts for multiple purposes: event promotions, viewpoints on upcoming bills, and other commentary. On March 26, 2022, Szeliga published a tweet in response to House Speaker Adrienne Jones, using profane language. Shortly thereafter Szeliga removed her response and apologized for it, saying it was intended to be private and was inappropriate.[9]

Szeliga announced in November 2015 that she would be running for the Republican nomination to replace Senator Barbara Mikulski in the 2016 US Senate election in Maryland.[10] She was the first Republican in the 2016 Senate primary to release ads on television.[11] On April 15, Citizens United announced they had bought $25,000 worth of radio airtime to promote Del. Szeliga ahead of the April 26 primary.[12] Szeliga won the primary on April 26, 2016, and faced Representative Chris Van Hollen in the general election on November 8, 2016,[13] in which she was defeated by a landslide 61% – 36% spread.[14]

• 2018 Republican Primary Election for Maryland House of Delegates – District 7 [15]

Voters to choose up to three:

Name	Votes	Percent	Outcome
Kathy Szeliga	7,127	23.3%	Won
Richard K. Impallaria	4,494	14.7%	Won
Lauren Arikan	4,173	13.6%	Won
Aaron Penman	3,216	10.5%	Lost
Bill Paulshock	2,869	9.4%	Lost
Michael Geppi	2,044	6.7%	Lost
David Seman	1,981	6.5%	Lost
Tammy Larkin	1,934	6.3%	Lost
Joshua Barlow	1,548	5.1%	Lost
Angela Sudano-Marcellino	498	1.6%	Lost
Russ English, Jr.	374	1.2%	Lost
Norm Gifford	219	0.7%	Lost
Trevor Leach	148	0.5%	Lost

• 2016 General Election for U.S. Senator from Maryland[16]

Voters to choose one:

Name	Votes	Percent	Outcome
Chris Van Hollen	1,659,907	60.9%	Won
Kathy Szeliga	972,557	35.7%	Lost
Margaret Flowers	89,970	3.3%	Lost
Write-Ins	3,736	0.1%	Lost

• 2016 Republican Primary Election for US Senator from Maryland [17]

Voters to choose one:

Name	Votes	Percent	Outcome
Kathy Szeliga	135,337	35.6%	Won
Chris Chaffee	52,066	13.7%	Lost
Chrys Kefalas	36,340	9.6%	Lost
Richard J. Douglas	29,007	7.6%	Lost
Dave Wallace	23,226	6.1%	Lost
Sean P. Connor	21,727	5.7%	Lost
Lynn Richardson	20,792	5.5%	Lost
John R. Graziani	16,722	4.4%	Lost
Greg Holmes	16,148	4.3%	Lost
Mark McNicholas	9,988	2.6%	Lost
Joseph David Hooe	8,282	2.2%	Lost
Anthony Seda	3,873	1.0%	Lost
Richard Shawver	3,155	0.8%	Lost
Garry Thomas Yarrington	2,988	0.8%	Lost

• 2014 General Election for Maryland House of Delegates – District 7[18]

Voters to choose three:

Name	Votes	Percent	Outcome
Pat McDonough, Rep.	35,627	26.9%	Won
Kathy Szeliga, Rep.	33,197	25.0%	Won
Richard Impallaria, Rep.	32,560	24.6%	Won
Bob Bowle, Jr., Dem.	11,154	8.4%	Lost
Norman Gifford, Jr., Dem.	10,192	7.7%	Lost
Pete Definbaugh, Dem.	9,707	7.3%	Lost
Other Write-Ins	145	0.1%	Lost

• 2014 Republican Primary Election for Maryland House of Delegates – District 7 [19]

Voters to choose up to three:

Name	Votes	Percent	Outcome
Pat McDonough	6,971	29.0%	Won
Kathy Szeliga	6,125	25.5%	Won
Richard K. Impallaria	5,790	24.1%	Won
David Seman	3,483	14.5%	Lost
Tina Sutherland	1,675	7.0%	Lost

• 2010 General Election for Maryland House of Delegates – District 7[20]

Voters to choose three:

Name	Votes	Percent	Outcome
Richard Impallaria, Rep.	27,217	23.1%	Won
Pat McDonough, Rep.	25,450	21.6%	Won
Kathy Szeliga, Rep.	24,573	20.9%	Won
Jeff Beard, Dem.	14,885	12.6%	Lost
Kristina A. Sargent, Dem.	13,551	11.5%	Lost
James Ward Morrow, Dem.	11,960	10.2%	Lost
Other Write-Ins	111	0.1%	Lost

• 2010 Republican Primary Election for Maryland House of Delegates – District 7 [21]

Voters to choose up to three:

Name	Votes	Percent	Outcome
Pat McDonough	6,479	27.2%	Won
Richard K. Impallaria	5,678	23.8%	Won
Kathy Szeliga	4,021	16.9%	Won
Brian Bennett	1,838	7.7%	Lost
Marilyn Booker	1,808	7.6%	Lost
Roger Zajdel	1,783	7.5%	Lost
John Cromwell	1,031	4.3%	Lost
Jim Berndt	873	3.7%	Lost
Laine O. C. Clark	312	1.3%	Lost

• Official Senate Campaign Site
• Profile at Vote Smart
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Appearances on C-SPAN