35 Facts About James Brochin

James Brochin was born on February 22,1964 and is an American politician who was a member of the Maryland Senate representing the 42nd district in Baltimore County from 2003 to 2019.

James Brochin unsuccessfully ran for Baltimore County Executive in 2018, placing second behind former state delegate Johnny Olszewski in the Democratic primary by a margin of 17 votes.

James Brochin earned his Master of Arts degree in political science from the University of Maryland, College Park in 1990.

James Brochin was a political science instructor at the Community College of Baltimore County's Catonsville campus from 1990 to 1998 and at Towson University since 1994.

James Brochin ran for the Maryland Senate in the 9th district in 2002, seeking to unseat Republican state senator Andy Harris.

James Brochin was redrawn into the 42nd district after the Maryland Court of Appeals issued a ruling redrawing the state's legislative maps.

James Brochin engaged in a door-knocking campaign for nearly three years leading up to the election, in which he defeated Republican state delegate Martha Scanlan Klima in the general election with 50.99 percent of the vote.

James Brochin was reelected to a third term in 2010 after defeating Republican challenger Kevin Carney.

James Brochin was sworn into the Maryland Senate on January 8,2003.

James Brochin has described himself as a centrist with socially liberal views, while The Baltimore Sun has described him as an independent and conservative-leaning Democrat and as one of the most conservative Democratic members of the Maryland Senate.

James Brochin was a member of the Judicial Proceedings Committee from 2003 to 2004, afterwards serving on the Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs Committee until 2007, after which he returned to the Judicial Proceedings Committee for the remainder of his tenure.

From 2016 to 2019, James Brochin served as the chair of the Baltimore County Delegation.

In November 2016, James Brochin told The Baltimore Sun that he was considering a run for Baltimore County Executive in 2018.

James Brochin announced his candidacy on October 19,2017, seeking to succeed Kevin Kamenetz, who was term limited.

James Brochin received endorsements from Attorney General Brian Frosh and Comptroller Peter Franchot, and outraised his Democratic opponents.

James Brochin was defeated in the Democratic primary by Johnny Olszewski by nine votes, prompting him to request a recount that expanded Olszewski's lead to 17 votes.

In November 2024, after Johnny Olszewski was elected to the US House of Representatives, James Brochin applied to fill the remainder of Olszewski's term as Baltimore County Executive.

James Brochin's candidacy was supported by Baltimore County State's Attorney Scott Shellenberger.

James Brochin pledged to expand the county's agreement 287 agreement with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, promising to seek the deportation of anyone convicted of a felony or serious misdemeanor while staying in the county illegally and citing the murder of Rachel Morin for his positions on immigration.

James Brochin has described himself as a "law and order legislator".

In March 2016, James Brochin voted for legislation that would redirect low-level drug offenders into treatment instead of prison, expand record expurgations for certain convictions, and reduce sentences for parole violators.

James Brochin supported unsuccessful efforts to place a ballot initiative on the death penalty repeal on the 2014 general election ballot.

In 2021, James Brochin helped pay for attorneys representing opponents of a proposed affordable housing project in east Towson.

In May 2011, James Brochin said he would sign Republican state delegate Neil Parrott's petition to place a ballot initiative repealing the Maryland Dream Act on the 2012 ballot.

In March 2018, James Brochin was the only Democrat in the Maryland Senate to vote against a bill to strip the Maryland Board of Public Works of its oversight and management of the state's annual "beg-a-thon", in which school system leaders appear before the board to request additional school construction funding.

James Brochin voted for a bill to provide low-income students with free tuition to Maryland community colleges.

In January 2015, James Brochin said he opposed a fracking proposal in western Maryland and introduced a bill to ban fracking in Maryland.

From 2002 to 2012, James Brochin accepted nearly $13,000 in campaign contributions from gun lobby organizations, including more than $2,000 from the National Rifle Association of America.

In March 2018, James Brochin opposed the legalization of marijuana, but voted for a bill to decriminalize possessing less than an ounce of marijuana.

In May 2017, James Brochin voted against a bill that would require Maryland use an independent redistricting commission to draw its legislative and congressional maps if New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and North Carolina all agreed to do the same, and spoke at the press conference where Governor Larry Hogan vetoed this bill.

James Brochin criticized legislative leaders for forming their own redistricting commission to draw Maryland's congressional and legislative maps during the 2020 United States redistricting cycle, instead endorsing the redistricting commission appointed by Governor Larry Hogan.

In February 2016, James Brochin voted against overriding Governor Larry Hogan's veto on a bill that would restore the voting rights of recently released felons.

In March 2018, James Brochin voted against a bill that would require presidential candidates to release their tax returns to appear on the ballot in Maryland.

In March 2016, James Brochin voted against a bill requiring the Maryland Department of Transportation to use a scoring system to determine which transportation projects it would prioritize.

James Brochin moved to Towson, Maryland, in 2007, but now lives in Cockeysville, Maryland.