I'm running because Maryland is my home, and government should work for the people, not against them. Annapolis, in many cases, has chosen ideology over common sense, leaving families to deal with soaring energy bills, higher taxes and needless regulations that are driving people out of our state.

I first ran after watching these policies crush small businesses and working families. That fight isn't over. As a husband, father and lifelong Southern Marylander, I know what's at stake.

I will cut blue tape, block tax hikes, protect our rural way of life and deliver real results for northern St. Mary's County.

I admire President Ronald Reagan. He told the truth about government. Government is not the solution to our problem. Government is the problem. That lesson still applies in Annapolis.

Reagan believed in American exceptionalism.  He cut taxes, rebuilt our defenses and reminded the country that freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. He did not apologize for America. He led it and won the Cold War.

Families here are paying more while government grows. Reagan believed, as I do, that smaller government performs better and gives citizens more freedom. I try to apply that lesson every day. Speak plainly. Defend the people who work and raise families. Leave our children a freer state than we inherited.

Maryland does not have a revenue problem; Maryland has a spending problem. Raising taxes on the rich sounds good on paper, but it inevitably hits the middle class, small businesses and their employees. High earners and job creators have options. Many have already left.

Gov. Wes Moore and Annapolis Democrats burned through a multi-billion-dollar surplus, locked in new mandates and then raised taxes on taxpayers. New and expanded programs now drive a structural deficit approaching $3 billion by January. Last year's tax package already raised the top income tax rate, added a capital gains surcharge and jacked up car registration fees. The middle class is being crushed by energy bills and a rising cost of living.

The answer is real spending cuts and structural reform. Right-size programs that grew faster than inflation. End the one-time gimmicks that paper over the deficit for another year. Protect core duties like public safety and infrastructure. Stop treating tax increases as the default solution.

A government that refuses to live within its means will keep driving Marylanders out of the state. The responsible path is clear: cut spending, block new taxes and restore fiscal discipline.

Maryland's skyrocketing energy bills are the direct result of Annapolis choosing ideology over supply. Those decisions left Maryland importing 40% of its power from other states, making Marylanders pay some of the nation's highest utility bills.

New data centers should face a moratorium until they contribute power to the grid, as Texas now requires. They need to pay their own way. But they are not the root cause. The root cause is a state that shut down reliable power plants and then taxed what remained.

The Maryland Freedom Caucus has a four-part plan to fix this. Keep needed power plants open and reopen shuttered facilities. Halt the EmPOWER surcharge and pause state energy taxes that function as hidden fees on every bill. Repeal the Climate Solutions Now Act. End the governor's costly green programs that drain ratepayer and taxpayer dollars without lowering prices.

Annapolis has also raided the Strategic Energy Investment Fund to plug budget holes. That misuses energy dollars. The way forward is clear: build more in-state generation, allocate costs honestly and scrap the climate mandates. Families in northern St. Mary's County should not be footing higher bills so Annapolis can fund failed energy schemes.

Maryland is expensive because Annapolis made it expensive. High taxes, slow permitting, needless fees and inspections and Annapolis mandates such as forcing new homes to be wired for electric car chargers and conduit to be pulled between houses have added cost to every new or rehabbed home. The longest delay is often the engineering requirements themselves. Those carrying costs get passed to buyers.

The General Assembly should cut the blue tape that inflates prices. Shorten permitting. Reduce impact fees that punish new families. Revisit septic and lot rules that block modest housing on already owned land. Let builders build where infrastructure already exists.

The General Assembly should not exercise central planning by forcing high-density housing on rural counties from Annapolis. The General Assembly should not erase local zoning or turn areas like northern St. Mary’s County into a suburb of Waldorf. Nobody here wants sprawl. Conserving what is good is a conservative duty.

Affordable housing comes from more supply, lower taxes and local control. It does not come from new state bureaucracies or mandates that ignore the character of Southern Maryland.

No. The DECADE Act will not do enough. Extending a few tax credits and rebranding grant programs is not a jobs plan. Government cannot pick lighthouse industries while it taxes the same industries out of the state.

Last year, Annapolis Democrats passed a new tech tax, then exempted the University of Maryland ZIP code. Courts have now struck down their digital advertisement tax. Combined with the lack of in-state power generation and the highest utility bills in the nation, that record is hostile to any tech industry. Firms do not locate where power is scarce, bills are highest and the tax code is a moving target.

Maryland will create jobs when it becomes cheaper and easier to hire here. Cut the tax burden. Restore reliable, affordable power. Shorten permitting. Small businesses and federal contractors in Southern Maryland need a competitive climate more than they need another commerce grant.

Jobs follow opportunity. Opportunity follows limited government and low costs.

I oppose this ban. It compromises public safety. Immigration law is federal law. Local sheriffs should be free to work with ICE, especially when they have a criminal in custody.

Maryland is now a sanctuary state for criminal illegal aliens. Two years ago, Maryland ICE led the nation in arresting sex offenders. The current Democratic position is to let those criminals loose in our neighborhoods. How does that make our citizens safer?

The practical impact of the legislation is that it handcuffs local law enforcement from doing their jobs. St. Mary’s County had a 287(g) partnership. Annapolis Democrats unilaterally forced them to end it. That was a political decision, not one grounded in the best interests of public safety.

I voted against this ban because a sheriff’s first duty is to protect the public, not to cater to a small percentage of extreme activists. The high-profile murders of Maryland victims such as Rachel Morin, Kayla Hamilton and DaCara Thompson should have ended this argument.

Lowering the cost of living is still the top issue. The high taxes and fees are forcing our residents to leave the state. How Annapolis chooses to close the looming $3 billion deficit impacts everyone who reads this questionnaire. To address one of the cost-of-living issues, I have prefiled a bill to return car registration fees to 2024 levels. That is a direct cut families can feel at the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration.

I will also keep working to lower healthcare costs. I serve on the Health Committee. I passed Right to Try 2.0 so patients and doctors can pursue treatment without bureaucratic delay. I have passed legislation to stop pharmacy benefit managers from inflating drug prices and squeezing independent pharmacies. Marylanders should not need a second job to fill a prescription.

I will keep pushing for commonsense solutions on 80/20 issues like voter ID and proof of citizenship to vote. I will still push for legislation to bring accountability and transparency for nonprofits that do business with state government.