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Upper house of the state legislature

The Maryland Senate, sometimes referred to as the Maryland State Senate, is the upper house of the General Assembly, the state legislature of the U. S. state of Maryland. Composed of 47 senators elected from an equal number of constituent single member districts, the Senate is responsible, along with the Maryland House of Delegates, for passage of laws in Maryland, and for confirming executive appointments made by the Governor of Maryland. It evolved from the upper house of the colonial assembly created in 1650 when Maryland was a proprietary colony controlled by Cecilius Calvert. It consisted of the Governor and members of the Governor's appointed council. With slight variation, the body to meet in that form until 1776, when Maryland, now a state independent of British rule, passed a new constitution that created an electoral college to appoint members of the Senate. This electoral college was abolished in 1838 and members began to be directly elected from each county and Baltimore City. In 1972, because of a Supreme Court decision, the number of districts was increased to 47, and the districts were balanced by population rather than being geographically determined. To serve in the Maryland Senate, a person must be a citizen of Maryland 25 years of age or older. Elections for the 47 Senate seats are held every four years coincident with the federal election in which the President of the United States is not elected. Vacancies are filled through appointment by the Governor. The Senate meets for three months every year; the rest of the year the work of the Senate is light and most members hold another job during this time. It has been controlled by Democrats since 1900. In the 2018 election, more than two thirds of the Senate seats were won by Democrats. Senators elect a President to serve as presiding officer of the legislative body, as well as a President Pro Tempore. The President appoints chairs and membership of six standing committees, four legislative committees as well as the Executive Nominations and Rules Committees. Senators are also organized into caucuses, including party and demographically based caucuses. They are assisted in their work by paid staff of the non partisan Department of Legislative Services and by partisan office staff.

District Senator Party Since Residence Counties represented 1 Mike McKay Republican 2023 Cumberland Allegany, Garrett, Washington 2 Republican 2020 Hagerstown Frederick, Washington 3 Karen Lewis Young Democratic 2023 Frederick Frederick 4 William Folden Republican 2023 Myersville Frederick 5 Republican 2015 Manchester Carroll 6 Republican 2015 Dundalk Baltimore County 7 Republican 2011 Joppa Baltimore County, Harford 8 Democratic 2003 Perry Hall Baltimore County 9 Democratic 2019 Ellicott City Howard, Montgomery 10 Benjamin Brooks Democratic 2023 Milford Mill Baltimore County 11 Democratic 2020 Pikesville Baltimore County 12 Democratic 2019 Columbia Anne Arundel County, Howard 13 Democratic 2015 Columbia Howard 14 Democratic 2016 Brookeville Montgomery 15 Democratic 2013 Potomac Montgomery 16 Vacant Democratic 2024 Bethesda Montgomery 17 Democratic 2015 Rockville Montgomery 18 Democratic 2019 Kensington Montgomery 19 Democratic 2019 Derwood Montgomery 20 Democratic 2016 Silver Spring Montgomery 21 Democratic 2007 College Park Anne Arundel, Prince George's 22 Alonzo T. Washington Democratic 2023 Greenbelt Prince George's 23 Democratic 2021 Upper Marlboro Prince George's 24 Democratic 2011 Landover Prince George's 25 Democratic 2023 Forestville Prince George's 26 C. Anthony Muse Democratic 2023 Accokeek Prince George's 27 Democratic 2021 Brandywine Calvert, Charles, Prince George's 28 Democratic 2019 Indian Head Charles 29 Republican 2019 Mechanicsville Calvert, St. Mary's 30 Democratic 2019 Annapolis Anne Arundel 31 Republican 2007 Glen Burnie Anne Arundel 32 Democratic 2019 Linthicum Anne Arundel 33 Democratic 2023 Severna Park Anne Arundel 34 Democratic 2023 Havre de Grace Harford 35 Republican 2019 Churchville Cecil, Harford 36 Republican 2013 Queenstown Caroline, Cecil, Kent, Queen Anne's 37 Johnny Mautz Republican 2023 Saint Michaels Caroline, Dorchester, Talbot, Wicomico 38 Republican 2019 Ocean City Somerset, Wicomico, Worcester 39 Democratic 2007 Montgomery Village Montgomery 40 Democratic 2019 Baltimore Baltimore City 41 Democratic 2018 Baltimore Baltimore City 42 Republican 2019 Towson Baltimore County, Carroll County 43 Democratic 2019 Baltimore Baltimore City, Baltimore County 44 Democratic 2020 Baltimore Baltimore County 45 Democratic 2019 Baltimore Baltimore City 46 Democratic 2011 Baltimore Baltimore City 47 Democratic 2019 Cheverly Prince George's

Maryland's Senate consists of senators elected from 47 Senate districts. While each senator has the power to introduce and vote on bills and make motions on the floor, various committees, caucuses, and leadership positions help to organize the work of the Senate. Senators elect a President of the Senate, who serves as the presiding officer of the chamber. They also elect a President Pro Tempore, who presides over the chamber when the President is absent. These powers place the President of the Maryland Senate among the strongest state legislature presiding officers in the country. Along with serving on the Senate committees, members of the Senate also serve on a number of joint committees with members of the House of Delegates. While the committees are established by formal Senate rules, there are a number of caucuses that exercise significant influence over the legislative process. The most powerful of these are the Democratic Caucus and the Republican Caucus, each of which has a leader and a whip, referred to as a majority and minority leader and whip. Professional services for members of the Senate and the House of Delegates are provided by the Department of Legislative Services, which is non partisan. Individual members are also assisted by partisan staff members, and those in leadership positions have additional partisan staff.

To be eligible to run for the Maryland Senate, a person must be a citizen and be at least 25 years old. They must also have lived in the state for at least one year, and must have lived in the district in which they are to run for at least six months, assuming the district has existed with its current boundaries for at least that long. No elected or appointed official of the United States government, including the military, may serve in the Senate, excluding those serving in the military reserves and National Guard. Similarly, no employees of the state government may serve, except for law enforcement officers, firefighters, and rescue workers.

Members of the Maryland Senate are elected every four years, in off year elections in the middle of terms for Presidents of the United States. After two terms, 2007 2010 and 2011 2014, during which the salary for members of the General Assembly was $43,500 per year ($56,500 for the Presiding Officers), members began receiving annual raises in 2015 such that, at the start of the 2018 General Assembly Session, they will be earning $50,330 per year, an increase of about 16 percent over four years. The increase is being phased in the amounts of approximately $1,707 per year for rank and file legislators and $2,218 per year for the Presiding Officers. This dominance is nothing new, as Democrats have had strong majorities in the chamber for decades. Democrats tend to control seats in the large population centers such as Baltimore City, Montgomery County, and Prince George's County, while Republicans control most seats on the Eastern Shore and in western Maryland. The chamber has also had significant numbers of women and African Americans serve, with women averaging around 36% of the seats and African Americans around 31%.

On January 8, 2020, Democratic senator Bill Ferguson, from the 46th district, was elected to the position of Senate president following the retirement of the longest serving Senate president in both Maryland and American history, Thomas V. Mike Miller. Melony G. Griffith, from the 25th District in Prince George's County, is the President Pro Tempore. The Democratic caucus is led by Majority Leader Nancy J. King of the 39th District in Montgomery County. Stephen S. Hershey Jr. of the 36th District, which covers Caroline, Cecil, Kent, and Queen Anne's counties, was elected as the minority leader by the Senate's Republican Caucus in 2022.

Many rules and procedures in the Maryland Senate are set by the state constitution. Lobbying is common in Annapolis; there are more than 700 lobbyists registered with the state. While lobbyists may spend freely on advocacy, they are limited in gifts to legislators and in their ability to contribute to campaigns. Ethics issues related to lobbyists and other matters are handled by the Joint Committee on Legislative Ethics, a twelve member committee that includes six senators. Members of the Senate may turn to either this committee or an ethics counsel to help them resolve questions of potential ethical conflict. Members are encouraged to avoid conflicts of interest, and are required to submit public financial disclosures to the state. In addition to employment prohibitions laid out in the state constitution, members are barred from advocating for any paying client before any part of the state government.