Rep. Sarah Elfreth (D-3rd) settles in to her Capitol Hill office on Jan. 3, 2025, just hours after getting the keys to the place. (Photo by Steve Crane/Maryland Matters)
As she prepared to transition from her six years in the Maryland Senate to her new position in Congress, U.S. Rep. Sarah K. Elfreth (D-3rd) became a major benefactor to fellow Democrats.
One of her new colleagues, freshman Rep. Johnny Olszewski Jr. (D-2nd), may be poised to become an even bigger donor.
New campaign finance records submitted last week to the Maryland State Board of Elections showed that Elfreth steered $122,500 from her state campaign account to fellow Democratic candidates and causes in the months after she won the May Democratic primary for the open congressional seat. Elfreth couldn’t use that account, which contained $140,241 last January, for her congressional bid, which she launched in November 2023.
Elfreth raised and spent about $2.1 million to win the race to replace former U.S. Rep. John Sarbanes (D) in the 3rd District this November.
Elfreth’s ability to play financial angel for her fellow Democrats isn’t all that unusual. Dozens of former state elected officials keep campaign fundraising committees open well after they’ve left office. And some drain their campaign funds by aiding fellow politicians.
A year ago, former state Sen. Melony G. Griffith (D-Prince George’s) donated $140,000 from her state campaign funds to fellow Democrats after resigning to become president of the Maryland Hospital Association. Over the past year, campaign records show, she doled out another $32,281 to political candidates.
Braveboy leads Prince George’s money chase, fundraising amps up in other exec races
But depending on what he decides to do with his surplus state campaign money, Olszewski, who like Elfreth was elected to the U.S. House in November, could become one of the biggest Maryland politician donors to fellow state political leaders in recent memory.
Olszewski, who previously served as Baltimore County executive, spent about $1.3 million in federal campaign funds to win the race to replace former U.S. Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D). But he retains more than $1.7 million in his state campaign account, which he established to run for county executive in 2018.
Olszewski did not distribute any campaign money from his state war chest to fellow politicians over the past year, according to his campaign finance report. He did contribute $1,000 in the fall to the Maryland League of Conservation Voters — where his wife works — to sponsor an event.
Federal campaign finance law prevents candidates for federal office from using campaign funds they’ve amassed in state campaign funds, except for a few discrete purposes. The candidates do have the option of returning money to state campaign account contributors and asking them to donate anew to their federal campaign committees.
Elfreth is now sitting on $13,458 in her state campaign fund. Maryland’s new U.S. senator, Angela Alsobrooks (D), after winning a multimillion-dollar race for her Senate seat, retained $121,755 in her state campaign account as of Jan. 8, which she retained from her prior campaigns for Prince George’s County executive. She did not parcel any of that money out to political candidates in the past year.
Elfreth in the past year made the following contributions to fellow Democrats, according to her latest campaign finance report. Most were to candidates within her congressional district:
Beyond the former state and local officials now serving in Congress, several former state elected officials are keeping their campaign funds open.
Under state law, they are allowed to keep their campaign committees open for eight years after they’ve last held office — or eight years since they were last on a state or local ballot. They are able to distribute funds to other political committees, to charities, to local boards of education, to state institutions of higher education, or to the state’s Fair Campaign Fund, which offers public financing to gubernatorial candidates who seek it.
Sometimes these excess campaign funds can be highly controversial. When former Baltimore County Executive Jim Smith (D) left office in 2010, he retained $476,380 in his campaign committee. He transferred that money into the account of an entity known as the Baltimore County Victory Fund, which he then used to aid political allies.
Most significantly, the committee provided a crucial $100,000 loan to Catherine Pugh (D), then a state senator running for mayor of Baltimore, as she was battling in a tough Democratic primary in 2016. Pugh won, and rewarded Smith with a six-figure job at City Hall.
Griffith, the former state senator turned leader of the hospital association, did not give as much money to fellow politicians in the past year as she did the year before, though her campaign finance statement showed that she made contributions to at least 18 political candidates and entities, including $6,000 to the Maryland Democratic Party and $6,000 to House Appropriations Chair Ben Barnes (D-Prince George’s and Anne Arundel).
Secretary of State Susan Lee, who spent two decades in the legislature, still had $271,290 in her war chest on Jan. 8, after donating $2,000 to Prince George’s Councilmember Jolene Ivey (D) and $1,000 to Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller (D) over the past year.
Maryland Public Service Commission member Kumar P. Barve, who served in the House of Delegates from 1991 to 2023, retained $76,797 in his campaign account on Jan. 8. He made $8,250 in campaign donations over the past year, including $2,000 to the lieutenant governor.
Another former longtime state lawmaker, Maryland Energy Administration Director Paul Pinsky, started 2024 with almost $100,000 in his old campaign account. But he donated $85,000 last year to a scholarship fund at the University of Maryland established in the name of his late wife, educator Joan Rothgeb. He still had $13,449 in the bank on Jan. 8.
Former state Sen. Jill P. Carter (D-Baltimore City) resigned early this month after Moore appointed her to the State Board of Contract Appeals. She had $89,989 in the bank on Jan. 8, and made $2,500 in donations to political committees after she resigned: $1,000 each to Dels. Gabriel Acevero (D-Montgomery) and Malcolm P. Ruff (D-Baltimore City) and $500 to Del. Caylin Young (D-Baltimore City).
Ruff, who represents the same district Carter did, is seeking the appointment to replace her in the Senate. The members of the Baltimore City Democratic Central Committee from District 41 are meeting Tuesday evening to interview candidates and recommend a successor to Moore, who makes the appointment.
Then there’s State Treasurer Dereck Davis (D), a former state delegate who has broken with tradition by continuing to raise money for his campaign committee since he was appointed to the treasurer’s job by the General Assembly in late 2021.
That’s perfectly legal, but rarely practiced. Most state treasurers are veteran officeholders whose elevation to treasurer is usually the culmination of a long career — and they don’t need to wage campaigns because they’re appointed by the legislature. But Davis has suggested that at age 57, he could still have one more political run in him, and wants to keep himself viable.
Davis reported raising $43,525 between Jan. 11, 2024, and Jan. 8 of this year — mostly from the same lobbyists and special interest groups that filled his campaign fund when he was chair of the powerful House Economic Matters Committee. Davis finished the reporting period with $37,564 on hand. He donated just $1,000 to political candidates over the past year.
by Josh Kurtz, Maryland Matters
January 20, 2025
by Josh Kurtz, Maryland Matters
January 20, 2025
As she prepared to transition from her six years in the Maryland Senate to her new position in Congress, U.S. Rep. Sarah K. Elfreth (D-3rd) became a major benefactor to fellow Democrats.
One of her new colleagues, freshman Rep. Johnny Olszewski Jr. (D-2nd), may be poised to become an even bigger donor.
New campaign finance records submitted last week to the Maryland State Board of Elections showed that Elfreth steered $122,500 from her state campaign account to fellow Democratic candidates and causes in the months after she won the May Democratic primary for the open congressional seat. Elfreth couldn’t use that account, which contained $140,241 last January, for her congressional bid, which she launched in November 2023.
Elfreth raised and spent about $2.1 million to win the race to replace former U.S. Rep. John Sarbanes (D) in the 3rd District this November.
Elfreth’s ability to play financial angel for her fellow Democrats isn’t all that unusual. Dozens of former state elected officials keep campaign fundraising committees open well after they’ve left office. And some drain their campaign funds by aiding fellow politicians.
A year ago, former state Sen. Melony G. Griffith (D-Prince George’s) donated $140,000 from her state campaign funds to fellow Democrats after resigning to become president of the Maryland Hospital Association. Over the past year, campaign records show, she doled out another $32,281 to political candidates.
Braveboy leads Prince George’s money chase, fundraising amps up in other exec races
But depending on what he decides to do with his surplus state campaign money, Olszewski, who like Elfreth was elected to the U.S. House in November, could become one of the biggest Maryland politician donors to fellow state political leaders in recent memory.
Olszewski, who previously served as Baltimore County executive, spent about $1.3 million in federal campaign funds to win the race to replace former U.S. Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D). But he retains more than $1.7 million in his state campaign account, which he established to run for county executive in 2018.
Olszewski did not distribute any campaign money from his state war chest to fellow politicians over the past year, according to his campaign finance report. He did contribute $1,000 in the fall to the Maryland League of Conservation Voters — where his wife works — to sponsor an event.
Federal campaign finance law prevents candidates for federal office from using campaign funds they’ve amassed in state campaign funds, except for a few discrete purposes. The candidates do have the option of returning money to state campaign account contributors and asking them to donate anew to their federal campaign committees.
Elfreth is now sitting on $13,458 in her state campaign fund. Maryland’s new U.S. senator, Angela Alsobrooks (D), after winning a multimillion-dollar race for her Senate seat, retained $121,755 in her state campaign account as of Jan. 8, which she retained from her prior campaigns for Prince George’s County executive. She did not parcel any of that money out to political candidates in the past year.
Elfreth in the past year made the following contributions to fellow Democrats, according to her latest campaign finance report. Most were to candidates within her congressional district:
Beyond the former state and local officials now serving in Congress, several former state elected officials are keeping their campaign funds open.
Under state law, they are allowed to keep their campaign committees open for eight years after they’ve last held office — or eight years since they were last on a state or local ballot. They are able to distribute funds to other political committees, to charities, to local boards of education, to state institutions of higher education, or to the state’s Fair Campaign Fund, which offers public financing to gubernatorial candidates who seek it.
Sometimes these excess campaign funds can be highly controversial. When former Baltimore County Executive Jim Smith (D) left office in 2010, he retained $476,380 in his campaign committee. He transferred that money into the account of an entity known as the Baltimore County Victory Fund, which he then used to aid political allies.
Most significantly, the committee provided a crucial $100,000 loan to Catherine Pugh (D), then a state senator running for mayor of Baltimore, as she was battling in a tough Democratic primary in 2016. Pugh won, and rewarded Smith with a six-figure job at City Hall.
Griffith, the former state senator turned leader of the hospital association, did not give as much money to fellow politicians in the past year as she did the year before, though her campaign finance statement showed that she made contributions to at least 18 political candidates and entities, including $6,000 to the Maryland Democratic Party and $6,000 to House Appropriations Chair Ben Barnes (D-Prince George’s and Anne Arundel).
Secretary of State Susan Lee, who spent two decades in the legislature, still had $271,290 in her war chest on Jan. 8, after donating $2,000 to Prince George’s Councilmember Jolene Ivey (D) and $1,000 to Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller (D) over the past year.
Maryland Public Service Commission member Kumar P. Barve, who served in the House of Delegates from 1991 to 2023, retained $76,797 in his campaign account on Jan. 8. He made $8,250 in campaign donations over the past year, including $2,000 to the lieutenant governor.
Another former longtime state lawmaker, Maryland Energy Administration Director Paul Pinsky, started 2024 with almost $100,000 in his old campaign account. But he donated $85,000 last year to a scholarship fund at the University of Maryland established in the name of his late wife, educator Joan Rothgeb. He still had $13,449 in the bank on Jan. 8.
Former state Sen. Jill P. Carter (D-Baltimore City) resigned early this month after Moore appointed her to the State Board of Contract Appeals. She had $89,989 in the bank on Jan. 8, and made $2,500 in donations to political committees after she resigned: $1,000 each to Dels. Gabriel Acevero (D-Montgomery) and Malcolm P. Ruff (D-Baltimore City) and $500 to Del. Caylin Young (D-Baltimore City).
Ruff, who represents the same district Carter did, is seeking the appointment to replace her in the Senate. The members of the Baltimore City Democratic Central Committee from District 41 are meeting Tuesday evening to interview candidates and recommend a successor to Moore, who makes the appointment.
Then there’s State Treasurer Dereck Davis (D), a former state delegate who has broken with tradition by continuing to raise money for his campaign committee since he was appointed to the treasurer’s job by the General Assembly in late 2021.
That’s perfectly legal, but rarely practiced. Most state treasurers are veteran officeholders whose elevation to treasurer is usually the culmination of a long career — and they don’t need to wage campaigns because they’re appointed by the legislature. But Davis has suggested that at age 57, he could still have one more political run in him, and wants to keep himself viable.
Davis reported raising $43,525 between Jan. 11, 2024, and Jan. 8 of this year — mostly from the same lobbyists and special interest groups that filled his campaign fund when he was chair of the powerful House Economic Matters Committee. Davis finished the reporting period with $37,564 on hand. He donated just $1,000 to political candidates over the past year.
Maryland Matters is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Maryland Matters maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Steve Crane for questions: editor@marylandmatters.org.
Our stories may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. We ask that you edit only for style or to shorten, provide proper attribution and link to our website. AP and Getty images may not be republished. Please see our republishing guidelines for use of any other photos and graphics.
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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Our stories may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. We ask that you edit only for style or to shorten, provide proper attribution and link to our website. (See full republishing guidelines.)
© Maryland Matters, 2025
