1. Kathy Szeliga was born on October 10,1961 and is an American politician who has served as a Republican member of the Maryland House of Delegates since January 12,2011, and as Minority Whip from 2013 to 2021.
47 Facts About Kathy Szeliga
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Kathy Szeliga was raised in a military family, her father being a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army.
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Kathy Szeliga married her husband in 1980, and the couple struggled financially at first.
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Kathy Szeliga worked as a dishwasher, a maid, and a housekeeper.
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Kathy Szeliga began working as a teacher in Baltimore City Public Schools and started a construction business with her husband.
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Kathy Szeliga first got involved with politics in the mid-1990s, organizing opposition against the Maryland School Performance and Assessment Program, a controversial test used to assess schools.
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Kathy Szeliga became involved with state politics after a family friend, James M Kelly, was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates.
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Kathy Szeliga worked as a legislative aide to Kelly, then for Delegate John G Trueschler, and eventually became chief of staff for then-State Senator Andy Harris.
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Kathy Szeliga was elected and immediately placed on the Appropriations Committee.
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Kathy Szeliga was sworn into the Maryland House of Delegates on January 11,2011.
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Kathy Szeliga served as a member of the Appropriations Committee from 2011 to 2015, the Transportation Committee from 2015 to 2016, and the Health and Government Operations Committee since 2017.
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From 2013 to 2021, Kathy Szeliga served as the House Minority Whip, making her the highest-ranking elected Republican woman in Maryland.
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Kathy Szeliga represented the 1st congressional district as a delegate to the 2024 Republican National Convention, pledged to Donald Trump.
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In June 2018, Kathy Szeliga accused state delegate Richard Impallaria of sending out campaign mailers attacking Kathy Szeliga by calling her a closet Democrat.
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Impallaria initially declined responsibility for this, but after Kathy Szeliga emailed him to say she would inform their GOP colleagues about the fliers targeting her, he forwarded the email to every member of the House Republican caucus in which he referred to himself as the "evil genius" responsible for the attacks on Kathy Szeliga.
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In February 2022, Kathy Szeliga filed a lawsuit against the state's newly enacted congressional maps, arguing that the maps violated the Maryland Constitution's requirement that districts be compact and respect natural boundaries.
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Kathy Szeliga later apologized for the tweet, saying it was intended to be private and was inappropriate.
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Kathy 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.
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Kathy Szeliga was the first Republican in the 2016 Senate primary to release ads on television.
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In June 2021, Kathy Szeliga celebrated Governor Larry Hogan's decision to end early the $300 supplemental weekly unemployment insurance provided by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.
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In 2020, Kathy Szeliga introduced a raft of anti-crime bills, including bills that would make gun theft a felony and another requiring individuals incarcerated for violent crimes to serve 90 percent of their term before they're eligible for parole.
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In 2021, Kathy Szeliga opposed Anton's Law, a bill that would allow certain officer misconduct records to be available for public inspection, arguing that the bill would allow the disclosure of unfounded claims against police officers.
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Kathy Szeliga opposed the Police Reform and Accountability Act, an omnibus police reform bill.
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In September 2017, Kathy Szeliga joined delegates Richard Impallaria and Pat McDonough in signing a letter to Harford County Executive Barry Glassman urging him to stop issuing permits for homes being built in Joppatowne, Maryland, after an auxiliary men's organization of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community said that its builders would only sell homes in the community to Ahmadi Muslims.
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In March 2019, Kathy Szeliga opposed a bill that would allow local school districts to decide their class calendar, which undid an earlier executive order by Governor Larry Hogan that mandated a post-Labor Day start for schools statewide.
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Kathy Szeliga opposed the legislature's veto override of the Blueprint for Maryland's Future, calling it "financially irresponsible".
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In 2013, Kathy Szeliga voted against a bill that banned assault rifles and required a person to obtain a license to buy a handgun.
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Kathy Szeliga did not support its repeal, saying that she instead supported making it more workable.
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Kathy Szeliga said she supported privatizing parts of medical care provided by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, but opposed a full privatization of the department.
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In February 2021, Kathy Szeliga opposed a bill to extend the state's earned income tax credit to undocumented immigrants.
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Kathy Szeliga opposes increases to the minimum wage, calling it a "short-term fix" and saying that low-wage earners are more interested in a career than a bump in salary.
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In June 2016, Szeliga distanced herself from comments made by then-presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump against Judge Gonzalo P Curiel, a federal judge of Mexican descent, calling them "insulting" and "racist".
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Kathy Szeliga later endorsed Trump in the 2016 United States presidential election.
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Kathy Szeliga attacked Hillary Clinton for her use of a private email server while serving as United States Secretary of State.
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In February 2019, Kathy Szeliga assisted Maryland Republican National Committee representative David Bossie in assembling a "Trump 2020 Leadership Team" in Maryland.
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In November 2020, Kathy Szeliga retweeted posts from House Minority Whip Steve Scalise and a video clip from Tucker Carlson Tonight that questioned the results of the 2020 United States presidential election.
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In July 2022, Kathy Szeliga defended US Representative Andy Harris after the United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack said he had met with Trump to discuss a strategy on blocking the results of the presidential election in certain states, comparing it to supporters of Hillary Clinton questioning the results of the 2016 presidential election.
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In May 2024, Kathy Szeliga signed onto a letter condemning the jury's guilty verdict in the Trump hush money trial, calling the ruling a "political prosecution from a kangaroo court and left-leaning prosecutor" that is turning the US justice system into a "third world parody of law and order".
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In February 2025, Kathy Szeliga defended the Trump administration's mass firing of federal employees, saying that she was receiving "thank-yous" from federal workers who saw firsthand how the government spends its money because of the furloughs.
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In January 2018, Kathy Szeliga said she opposed a bill to require employers with more than 15 workers to provide employees with paid sick leave, calling it "overly prescriptive".
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In February 2019, Kathy Szeliga supported a proposal to create a 2020 referendum to establish an independent redistricting commission in Maryland.
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Kathy Szeliga has repeatedly introduced bills aimed at prohibiting transgender students from participating in girls' sports teams in schools.
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In February 2023, Kathy Szeliga said she opposed a bill that would create a 2024 referendum on codifying the right to abortion access, saying that "Maryland's current abortion laws are radical and should not be enshrined in our constitution".
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In March 2021, Kathy Szeliga opposed a bill to remove "Maryland, My Maryland" as the official state song, likening the bill to cancel culture.
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In March 2021, Kathy Szeliga introduced an amendment to eliminate taxes on cable and satellite television services.
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In March 2022, Kathy Szeliga called on Governor Larry Hogan to provide $1,000 in tax relief to every Maryland resident.
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Kathy Szeliga met her future husband, Mark, in Ocean City, Maryland when she was a high schooler.