# Sarah Elfreth

# Sarah Elfreth

Sarah K. Elfreth (born September 9, 1988) is an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who has represented Maryland's 3rd congressional district in the [United States House of Representatives](/organizations/united-states-house-of-representatives) since January 3, 2025. Official results for the district are reported from Anne Arundel, Howard, and Carroll counties. She previously served in the Maryland Senate from District 30, in Anne Arundel County, from January 9, 2019, to January 2, 2025. She succeeded [John Sarbanes](/people/john-sarbanes), who announced in October 2023 that he would not seek a tenth House term. In the 2026 general election, unofficial returns refreshed on November 10, 2026, showed her leading Republican Berney Flowers, 202,080 votes (67.28 percent) to 97,441 (32.44 percent), with all 214 election-day precincts reported.

Elfreth was born in Barrington, New Jersey, and attended Haddon Heights High School. She received a B.A. in political science, magna cum laude, from Towson University in 2010 and a master of public policy, with concentrations in education and social policy, from Johns Hopkins University in 2012. The Maryland Manual lists her as the student member of the University System of Maryland Board of Regents in 2009–10 and as director of government affairs at the National Aquarium in Baltimore in 2010–12. Her congressional office states that she lives in Annapolis with her husband, Eric.

She was sworn in as a state senator on January 9, 2019, and contemporary coverage described her as the youngest woman to serve in the Maryland Senate. On the Budget and Taxation Committee she chaired the pensions subcommittee from 2020 to 2025 and the public safety, transportation, and environment subcommittee from 2023 to 2025, and she was Senate chair of the Joint Committee on the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Areas from 2019 to 2025. She served on the Chesapeake Bay Commission from 2019 to 2024 and chaired it in 2022–23.

In the 2024 Democratic primary for the open House seat, Elfreth placed first among 22 candidates with 29,459 votes (36.18 percent). Former United States Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn finished second with 20,380 votes (25.03 percent), and Clarence Lam third with 9,548 (11.73 percent). The day before that primary, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported that the United Democracy Project, a super PAC affiliated with AIPAC, had spent $4.2 million to support Elfreth, while Dunn's campaign had raised about $4.5 million to about $1.45 million for hers. In the 2024 general election she received 236,681 votes (59.29 percent) to 151,186 (37.87 percent) for Republican Robert J. Steinberger and 10,471 (2.62 percent) for Libertarian Miguel Barajas.

The House clerk lists her on the Committee on Armed Services, including its Readiness subcommittee, and on the Committee on Natural Resources, including its Energy and Mineral Resources subcommittee. The Maryland Manual lists her as a member of the United States Naval Academy Board of Visitors beginning in 2025. Her office states that she is vice ranking member of the Natural Resources Committee.

## Early life and education

### Family and upbringing

Sarah K. Elfreth was born in Barrington, New Jersey, on September 9, 1988, and attended Haddon Heights High School in neighboring Haddon Heights. In a 2020 Towson University alumni profile she called hers "possibly the least political family ever": her mother was a probation officer and her stepfather a locomotive engineer, and she said joining labor unions was the most political thing they did, supporting a middle-class life in Barrington, a Camden County borough outside Philadelphia. She remembered catching tadpoles in woods near home and said the Jersey Shore briefly interested her in marine biology, though she liked history more than politics.

### University and student leadership

Elfreth entered Towson University in 2006, at 17, on an academic scholarship, lived in Richmond Hall, and studied in the Honors College. She was a resident adviser in Prettyman Hall, joined the Student Government Association as a freshman, served as an SGA senator, and became director of legislative affairs; adviser Alison McCartney later kept her thesis as a model for other students. In 2007–08 she represented Towson and directed government relations on the University System of Maryland Student Council, and in summer 2008 she interned for state senator Jim Rosapepe. As a freshman she began testifying in Annapolis, later saying her first bill would have put polling places on college campuses, and she joined Tiger Pride Day lobbying trips. She later said a state senator, afterward elected to Congress, accused her of voter fraud during that testimony and that the clash drew her in; a 2019 profile tied the same senator to the fight over pornographic campus films. She said seeing Annapolis at 18 made her want to stay in Maryland, and credited a senior-year talk by former Vermont governor [Madeleine Kunin](/people/madeleine-kunin)—that capable women had an obligation to run—with turning her toward electoral politics.

Governor [Martin O'Malley](/people/martin-o-malley) nominated her as student regent; the Maryland Senate confirmed her in the 2009 session for a one-year term beginning July 1, 2009, succeeding University of Maryland, Baltimore County student Josh Michael. She was sworn in on July 2. The governor's office described her as a political science major with minors in economics and women's studies, SGA legislative-affairs director, and a student-at-large on the university senate.

In November 2009 the board rejected a rule, sought by then-state senator [Andy Harris](/people/andy-harris) after a planned X-rated screening at the University of Maryland, College Park and threats to withhold funding, that would have required an "educational component" for entertainment films. Elfreth said students, faculty, and administrators opposed a draft too ambiguous to trust in court and burdensome to enforce, called the choice to "follow the laws of the land" a free-speech victory, and later said no such policy could avoid the First Amendment. On April 16, 2010, she voted against a 3 percent tuition increase for in-state full-time undergraduates that ended a four-year freeze and was projected to raise about $39.1 million. Chancellor William E. Kirwan said she objected because the board could not promise there would be no further increases, while the rest of the board accepted ending the freeze.

She received a B.A. in political science, magna cum laude, in 2010. The honors thesis was published in 2011 as *The Young Guardians: Students as Stewards of the Past, Present, and Future of American Higher Education: A Field Guide for Student Board Members*, issued by the Associated Students of Colorado State University. She wrote that it began as a graduation requirement and continued in graduate school, using trusteeship literature and 48 spring 2010 interviews with student members of 39 multi-campus boards in 28 states. She earned an M.P.P. from Johns Hopkins University in 2012, which the state archives describe as covering public policy with education and social policy, and from 2010 to 2012 was a research assistant in the university's Office of Government and Community Affairs. In 2011, while in graduate school and working part time at Johns Hopkins, she interned unpaid about two days a week for House Minority Whip [Steny Hoyer](/people/steny-hoyer), whom she had met at a commencement where both spoke during her regent term.

## Early career

### National Aquarium and consulting

After graduate school, Elfreth worked in government affairs at the National Aquarium in Baltimore. In an interview with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums she called herself the institution’s lobbyist—“one foot in the National Aquarium and one foot out in the community”—and said that from 2012 to 2016 she had direct access to chief executive John Racanelli. She said Maryland’s ban on the shark-fin trade was the first legislation she worked on there. Governor Martin O'Malley signed House Bill 1148 and Senate Bill 592 on May 2, 2013; the Humane Society of the United States described the law as the first on the East Coast to prohibit the possession, sale, trade, and distribution of shark fins.

Published dates for the directorship disagree. The Maryland Manual On-Line lists it as 2010–12, the same years as her research assistantship at Johns Hopkins University. A 2020 General Assembly roster instead gives 2012–2016. State Ethics Commission lists register her as a lobbyist for National Aquarium in Baltimore, Inc., from August 1, 2012, through August 23, 2016. Separate reports list $77,951.90 for November 2014–October 2015 and $55,847 for November 2015–October 2016. In a 2018 candidate questionnaire she wrote that she had worked with the General Assembly on bans on Styrofoam and microplastics to protect the Chesapeake Bay and had secured $10 million in operating and capital funding for the aquarium.

The 2020 roster next lists senior director of university projects at Margrave Strategies, the firm of former Howard County executive Ken Ulman, in 2016–2017, and project leader of a Marine Conservation District from 2017. The online Manual records only the Margrave title, for 2016–17. At her Senate campaign launch in July 2017, the *Capital Gazette* described her as a nonprofit fundraising and communications consultant who had until recently done economic-development and community-revitalization work at Margrave. In June 2018 she listed her occupation as consultant and project manager for the aquarium’s Marine Conservation District, including recent work for the University of Maryland.

### Local organizing

Emerge Maryland’s alumnae directory places her in the 2013 class, from Anne Arundel County. The *Capital Gazette* described the program as training Democratic women to run for office. She moved to downtown Annapolis while working in Baltimore and joined the board of the Ward One Residents Association. The Manual lists her as vice president from 2014; in 2018 she said the board’s issues were parking, zoning, and rising sea level. She was president of the District 30 Democratic Club from 2015 until March 2017, though the Manual’s 2025 biography still shows that office as open from 2015. She described the club role as voter registration and rides to the polls, and she also worked on 2014 campaigns for House Speaker Michael E. Busch, state senator John Astle, and county councilman Chris Trumbauer.

The Manual also lists the Towson University Alumni Association board for 2013–15 and an Honors College adjunct appointment from 2019, without a recorded end date. An April 2024 *Baltimore Sun* voter guide still gave her occupation as state senator and adjunct professor. After she was elected to Congress, Towson’s student newspaper reported that she was teaching the honors seminar Public Policy & Public Advocacy and would not teach the next semester because of the congressional schedule.

## Maryland Senate

### Elections

Elfreth represented District 30 in the Maryland Senate from January 9, 2019, until she resigned on January 2, 2025. The district lies entirely in Anne Arundel County and includes Annapolis.

The seat opened when Democratic Senator John Astle retired. A District 30 delegate from 1983 to 1995 and senator from 1995, he told the Senate in February 2018 that he would leave after 36 years in the Maryland General Assembly.

In the 2018 Democratic primary Elfreth defeated Chrissy Holt, 6,482 votes (58.8 percent) to 4,547 (41.2 percent). Republican former delegate Ron George was unopposed and received 5,613 votes. On November 6, 2018, Elfreth won the general election with 29,736 votes (53.8 percent) to George’s 24,639 (44.6 percent). Libertarian Christopher Wallace Sr. received 826 votes (1.5 percent), and write-ins totaled 38 (0.1 percent). Republicans had hoped to take Districts 30 and 32 and narrow the Democrats’ veto-proof Senate majority; Elfreth and Pam Beidle held both. The Capital Gazette reported that Elfreth, then 30, would become the youngest state senator, and Maryland Matters reported that she became the youngest woman ever elected to the chamber.

She had no Democratic primary opponent in 2022 and received 12,481 votes. In the Republican primary Stacie MacDonald defeated Bobbi A. Moore, 5,945 votes (74.71 percent) to 2,012 (25.29 percent). On November 8, 2022, Elfreth received 30,359 votes (57.39 percent) to MacDonald’s 22,489 (42.51 percent), with 49 write-ins, out of 52,897 ballots cast.

Her resignation took effect January 2, 2025, the day before she was sworn into the United States House of Representatives. On January 4 the Anne Arundel County Democratic Central Committee recommended Delegate Shaneka Henson over Delegate Dana Jones, 10–9. Governor [Wes Moore](/people/wes-moore) appointed Henson, who was sworn in on January 8, 2025, opening day, as the first Black woman to represent Anne Arundel County in the Senate.

### Committees and leadership

Elfreth served on the Budget and Taxation Committee throughout her term. She sat on its capital-budget subcommittee in 2019 and from 2021 to 2025, and on the education, business, and administration subcommittee from 2019 to 2022. She joined the pensions subcommittee in 2019 and chaired it from 2020 to 2025. From 2023 to 2025 she chaired the public safety, transportation, and environment subcommittee.

She was Senate chair of the Joint Committee on the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Areas from 2019 to 2025; Senate chair of the Joint Committee on Administrative, Executive, and Legislative Review from 2020 to 2022; and Senate chair of the Joint Subcommittee on Program Open Space and Agricultural Land Preservation from 2023 to 2025. She chaired the Anne Arundel County Delegation from 2021 to 2023. From 2019 to 2024 she was a member of the tri-state Chesapeake Bay Commission, and the commission’s chair in 2022–23. She also chaired the Senate side of the Special Joint Committee on Pensions from 2020 to 2022 and sat on the 2021 State Park Investment Commission.

### Legislative record

Her congressional office states that in Annapolis she “passed 91 bipartisan bills into law—more than any other legislator.” Maryland Matters reported on March 22, 2024, that she had passed 84 bills since January 2019, more than any other legislator in that period, and in May quoted her citing 91 bills since she took office. The General Assembly lists legislation by session, not as a career total, and neither outlet published an independent count confirming 91 or that every bill drew votes from both parties.

Senate Bill 457 of 2020, which she sponsored, let local governments create resilience authorities to finance projects against flooding and sea-level rise. It passed the Senate 44–1 and the House of Delegates 111–20 and was enacted as Chapter 236. The Capital Gazette urged Governor [Larry Hogan](/people/larry-hogan) to sign it and described flooding in Annapolis as the immediate case.

The Great Maryland Outdoors Act (Senate Bill 541 of 2022), which she sponsored with Delegate Eric Luedtke, followed a park study that included former Governor [Parris Glendening](/people/parris-glendening). The Capital Gazette reported 21.7 million state-park visits in 2021 and a $68 million maintenance backlog. The bill passed the Senate 47–0 and the House 131–1 and on April 9, 2022, was enacted as Chapter 39 under Article II, Section 17(b) of the state constitution. The paper listed $70 million for deferred maintenance, $80 million for land, access, and historic sites, $10 million a year in Baltimore City park grants, and 100 new permanent staff, most of them rangers.

On per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, her Senate Bill 420 of 2020 (Chapter 277) prohibited, after October 1, 2021, use of Class B firefighting foam containing intentionally added PFAS for specified testing or training, and required non-fluorinated foam for training. In 2022 she sponsored the George “Walter” Taylor Act (Senate Bill 273), which Hogan approved on April 21 as Chapter 139. From January 1, 2024, it bars using, manufacturing, or knowingly selling or distributing that foam, and manufacturing or knowingly selling certain rugs, carpets, and food packaging containing the chemicals. Third-reading votes were unanimous in both chambers.

In 2024 she sponsored the Whole Watershed Act (Senate Bill 969), which Moore signed on May 9 as Chapter 559. It creates a partnership to speed restoration of the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic coastal bays with existing trust-fund and waterway money. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation said the pilot was also meant to add public access, habitat, and climate resilience. The Senate passed the enrolled bill 47–0; the House vote was 100–37.

The General Assembly in 2022 overrode Hogan’s veto of the Abortion Care Access Act (House Bill 937), enacted as Chapter 56. The law lets nurse practitioners, nurse-midwives, and physician assistants provide abortion care, puts $3.5 million into clinical training, makes Medicaid coverage of abortion permanent, and requires most private plans, with religious or legal exemptions, to cover abortion without cost sharing. The Senate’s third-reading vote was 28–15 and the House’s 89–47. Hogan wrote that the bill “endangers the health and lives of women by allowing non-physicians to perform abortions.”

The next year she co-sponsored Senate Bill 798, a referendum amendment declaring a fundamental right to reproductive freedom, including decisions to prevent, continue, or end a pregnancy. The Senate passed it 32–15 and the House 98–38, and Moore approved it on May 3, 2023, as Chapter 244. As Question 1 in November 2024 it passed, 2,199,319 votes (76.06 percent) to 692,219 (23.94 percent).

She also sponsored the 2024 Comprehensive Community Safety Funding Act (Senate Bill 784), which would have raised the sales and use tax on firearms, firearm accessories, and ammunition from 6 percent to 11 percent, with some exceptions. The Senate passed it 28–17 on March 4 and sent it to the House Ways and Means Committee, where the record ends at a hearing. It was not enacted.

## 2024 United States House election

### Democratic primary

The 2024 contest for Maryland's 3rd congressional district was an open-seat race for the United States House of Representatives. Nine-term Democrat John Sarbanes announced on October 26, 2023, that he would not seek what would have been a tenth term, saying he wanted to pursue public service outside elected office. The map in use was enacted in 2022 by Senate Bill 1012 from 2020 census data and is maintained by the Maryland Department of Planning. It covers all of Howard County, the central and northern parts of Anne Arundel County—including Annapolis—and a small portion of Carroll County.

*Map of Maryland's 3rd congressional district used for the 2024 election, covering Howard County and parts of Anne Arundel and Carroll counties.*

Twenty-two candidates ran in the Democratic primary on May 14, 2024. State Sen. Sarah Elfreth of Anne Arundel County and former United States Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn, who had been on duty during the [January 6, 2021, Capitol attack](/facts/january-6-united-states-capitol-attack), were the leading contenders. Other state legislators in the field were Sen. Clarence Lam and Dels. Terri L. Hill, Mark S. Chang, and Mike Rogers. Labor lawyer John Morse, endorsed by Sen. [Bernie Sanders](/people/bernie-sanders), also ran.

Certified results gave Elfreth 29,459 votes (36.18 percent), Dunn 20,380 (25.03 percent), and Lam 9,548 (11.73 percent). Hill finished fourth with 5,318 votes (6.53 percent) and Chang fifth with 4,106 (5.04 percent). The 22 Democrats together received 81,428 votes.

Direct fundraising favored Dunn, who lived in Silver Spring, outside the district. He raised $3.77 million in the first quarter of 2024 from about 115,000 donors at an average of about $21, and held nearly $1.7 million in cash; his campaign said only about 5,000 donors were Marylanders. By late April he had raised almost $4.6 million and spent almost $3.9 million, according to [Federal Election Commission](/organizations/federal-election-commission) filings. Elfreth had raised about $915,000 through March 31, more than 80 percent of it from Maryland, and about $1.4 million to $1.45 million by early May. Lam reported about $640,000 through the first quarter. During early voting, Sen. [Ben Cardin](/people/ben-cardin) appeared with Elfreth at Annapolis City Dock on May 6 and called her "ready for the job," while stopping short of a formal endorsement.

### Outside spending and criticism

United Democracy Project, a super PAC affiliated with the [American Israel Public Affairs Committee](/organizations/aipac), accounted for nearly all of the outside money. FEC independent-expenditure totals for the cycle show $4,179,712.60 spent in support of Elfreth and nothing opposing her. Pro-Choice Majority 2024 added $175,000 in support. Spending for Dunn was $2,750, from BlueWaveAmerica LLC.

Advertising began in early April with a television buy of at least $600,000. The ad did not mention Israel. A narrator said that "in Annapolis, Sarah Elfreth gets things done" and that she had passed dozens of bills, and the spot emphasized abortion rights, child care, democracy, and the environment, using images from her campaign site. By primary day, reports put the group's spending near $4.2 million to $4.4 million, including mail and phone banks.

UDP spokesperson Patrick Dorton said the PAC was not targeting Dunn over Israel, describing him as supportive of a strong U.S.-Israel relationship, and called Elfreth stronger on abortion rights, climate, and domestic violence. He said the group wanted to block other candidates it called "anti-Israel," a label press accounts applied to Morse, who had urged a ceasefire in Gaza. After the vote, AIPAC said the result showed that support for Israel was "entirely consistent with progressive values" and "both good policy and good politics." Elfreth and Dunn had not divided sharply in public: both backed emergency defense aid to Israel, and both had supported efforts by Sen. Chris Van Hollen to condition some of that aid.

Elfreth said she learned of the spending when it was reported and that campaigns cannot coordinate with super PACs. "I'm uncomfortable with dark money as well," she said. "I don't like it. But I'm not in a position to say no to people who want to amplify my message." [The Intercept](/organizations/the-intercept) reported that her campaign removed a "red box," a public page of material outside groups commonly reuse.

Dunn, with Morse and Juan Dominguez, called the super PAC a vehicle for "MAGA money" and its entry "an insult" to Sarbanes, a leading advocate of limits on campaign money. Dunn said candidates who benefited were accepting help from a group that had backed members of Congress who voted to reject the 2020 election results, and he called the funds dark money "bankrolled by MAGA Republicans." His lawyers asked Baltimore stations to drop an ad whose spoken disclaimer said "UDP" instead of the committee's full name. Lam wrote that an outside group that had "supported Republicans, insurrectionists, and MAGA Trump supporters" was entering the primary, and Hill criticized reliance on the "deepest pockets." Dunn later took an endorsement from [J Street](/organizations/j-street).

### General election

In the Republican primary the same day, attorney and businessman Robert J. "Rob" Steinberger won a nine-candidate field with 8,766 votes (25.13 percent) of 34,879 cast. He met Elfreth and Libertarian Miguel Barajas in the November 5 general election.

As of October 20, 2024, the district had 548,712 eligible active voters: 249,793 Democrats (45.5 percent), 150,910 Republicans (27.5 percent), and 138,688 unaffiliated voters (25.3 percent). The Cook Political Report and Inside Elections had rated Democrats strong favorites to hold the seat.

Elfreth received 236,681 votes (59.29 percent), Steinberger 151,186 (37.87 percent), and Barajas 10,471 (2.62 percent), with 862 write-ins (0.22 percent), out of 399,200 ballots. For the full 2023–24 cycle, Elfreth's campaign reported $2,276,073.80 in receipts and $2,245,334.25 in disbursements. Steinberger reported $51,442.69 in receipts and $53,110.46 in disbursements. Barajas filed no principal campaign committee and reported no receipts.

## U.S. House of Representatives

Sarah Elfreth took the oath as the representative for Maryland's 3rd congressional district on January 3, 2025, at the opening of the 119th Congress. The Office of the Clerk lists her Washington office as 1213 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515, telephone (202) 225-4016.

### Committees and caucuses

The Clerk's roster for the 119th Congress assigns Elfreth to the United States House of Representatives Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on Natural Resources. On Armed Services she serves on the Readiness Subcommittee and the Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee. On Natural Resources she serves on the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources and the Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries. That roster does not give her a leadership title on either committee. Her office describes her as vice ranking member of the full Natural Resources Committee.

On January 24, 2025, House Democratic Leader [Hakeem Jeffries](/people/hakeem-jeffries) appointed her to the United States Naval Academy Board of Visitors under 10 U.S.C. § 8468(a); the appointment was laid before the House on January 28. The academy's roster, updated August 24, 2026, still listed her among members named by Congress. The board inquires into morale, discipline, curriculum, instruction, equipment, fiscal affairs, and academic methods, and reports to the president within 60 days of its annual meeting.

House caucuses are not part of the Clerk's committee roster. The New Democrat Coalition, the Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition, the Congressional Equality Caucus, and the Democratic Women's Caucus each list her as a member. Her office also lists a Labor Caucus.

### Legislation and votes

On July 7, 2025, Elfreth introduced H.R. 4294, the Mitigation Action and Watermen Support Act (MAWS Act), with Representatives [Rob Wittman](/people/rob-wittman), [Jen Kiggans](/people/jen-kiggans), and Steny Hoyer. It would amend the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Authorization Act of 1992 so the Secretary of Commerce could pay pet-food, animal-feed, and aquaculture-feed firms to buy blue catfish caught in the Chesapeake Bay watershed from watermen and processors, at a minimum price the secretary sets, and then report on the stock. The House passed the bill as amended on March 17, 2026, 320–66, under suspension of the rules; Elfreth voted yea.

Her recorded votes on the annual defense bill split between the House's first version and the final compromise. On September 10, 2025, the House passed H.R. 3838, the Streamlining Procurement for Effective Execution and Delivery and National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026, by 231–196; Elfreth voted no. The Baltimore Sun reported that she had voted to advance the measure in committee in July and then opposed the floor version, citing [President Trump](/people/mig-donald-trump)'s deployment of the National Guard in Washington, D.C., and threats to deploy it in Baltimore. The compromise text moved as S. 1071. The House passed that bill on December 10, 2025, by 312–112, with Elfreth voting yea, and the president signed it on December 18, 2025, as Public Law 119-60, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026.

Section 2862 of the new law bars a golf course at Greenbury Point Conservation Area, at Naval Support Activity Annapolis, and limits restrictions on public access, matching H.R. 6628, which she introduced on December 11. The Baltimore Banner reported that she, with Senators [Chris Van Hollen](/people/chris-van-hollen) and [Angela Alsobrooks](/people/angela-alsobrooks), said a course there was not "mission critical" or "in service to our nation's defense." Section 2850 requires master plans for each service academy covering failing infrastructure, historic buildings, energy disruption, extreme weather, cybersecurity, and water supply, the substance of H.R. 6629, which she introduced with Wittman the same day. Section 2201 authorizes $86 million for storm water management facilities at the Naval Academy in Annapolis. On July 22, 2026, the House passed H.R. 8800, the fiscal year 2027 defense authorization, 216–212; Elfreth voted no.

During the 2025 lapse in appropriations she introduced H.R. 5572, the Help Federal Employees During Shutdowns Act (September 26), to let excepted federal employees draw state unemployment benefits for emergency work in a fiscal 2026 or 2027 shutdown, and H.R. 5843, the Shutdown Student Loans for Feds Act (October 28), for student-loan relief for federal employees and certain contractors. The bills were referred to Ways and Means and to Education and the Workforce, respectively.

### District representation

Under Chapter 16 of the 2022 Laws of Maryland, the plan still in use for the 119th Congress, Maryland's 3rd congressional district is all of Howard County, plus listed parts of Anne Arundel County and Carroll County. The Anne Arundel portion is election districts 2, 3, 5, and 6 in full and specified precincts and 2020 census blocks in districts 1 and 4. The Carroll portion is election district 13, election district 14 precincts 2 and 3, and part of election district 14, precinct 1. The statute does not place either entire county in the district.

The House ZIP-code directory places 21402, the Naval Academy ZIP code in Annapolis, in the 3rd district. Greenbury Point, Navy property at the mouth of the Severn River east of Annapolis, is in the district as well; the Banner described it as public since 1999 and as the site of a golf course the Naval Academy Athletic Association proposed in 2022.

A December 2024 Congressional Research Service report, using 2023 American Community Survey estimates for districts as configured in the 118th Congress, put federal civilian employment among residents of the 3rd district at 43,848, about 10.72 percent of employed civilians, with a margin of error of 3,561. Those figures count where civilians live, not where they work, and they exclude uniformed military personnel and federal contractors. Her district office is in Columbia, at 10440 Little Patuxent Parkway, Suite 550, telephone (410) 832-8890.

## Political positions

### Environment

In January 2022 the Chesapeake Bay Commission, a bipartisan body of legislators from Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, elected state Senator Sarah Elfreth its chair for a one-year term. She cited bills she had passed to increase oyster populations and to create a resilience authority for sea-level rise.

Elfreth was the lead Senate sponsor of the 2024 Whole Watershed Act (Senate Bill 969), which creates a Whole Watershed Restoration Partnership to speed restoration of the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays and allows up to $100,000 a year from fiscal 2026 through 2030 from the bays’ 2010 trust fund for operations grants. The Senate passed it 44–0 on March 18, 2024, with Elfreth voting yes; the governor approved it as Chapter 559.

She sponsored the George “Walter” Taylor Act (Senate Bill 273 of 2022). From January 1, 2024, it bars using, manufacturing, or knowingly selling or distributing Class B firefighting foam with intentionally added PFAS, and it restricts intentionally added PFAS in rugs, carpets, and certain food packaging. The Senate passed the bill 45–0 on March 1, 2022, with Elfreth voting yes; it became Chapter 139.

In the U.S. House, the Clerk assigns her to the Natural Resources Committee’s subcommittees on Energy and Mineral Resources and on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries. The League of Conservation Voters 2025 National Environmental Scorecard gave her 100 percent, also her lifetime score as a first-term member.

### Health care and abortion

On April 9, 2022, Elfreth voted to enact the Abortion Care Access Act over Governor Larry Hogan’s veto. The Senate vote was 29–15, after a 90–46 House override. The act creates an Abortion Care Clinical Training Program in the Maryland Department of Health, requires a $3.5 million annual appropriation for it, and sets abortion-coverage requirements for Medicaid and certain insurers. It took effect July 1, 2022, as Chapter 56.

She cosponsored Senate Bill 798 of 2023, proposing a constitutional right to reproductive freedom—including the ability to prevent, continue, or end one’s own pregnancy—and limiting state interference to a compelling interest achieved by the least restrictive means. The Senate passed it 32–15 on March 14, 2023, with Elfreth voting yes. As Question 1 on November 5, 2024, the amendment passed 2,199,319 to 692,219 (76.06 percent) in the State Board of Elections’ official tally.

In Congress she was an original cosponsor of the Women’s Health Protection Act (H.R. 12), introduced June 24, 2025, to protect the ability to continue or end a pregnancy and to provide abortion services. On December 17, 2025, she voted against H.R. 6703, the Lower Health Care Premiums for All Americans Act, which passed 216–211 with every voting Democrat, including Elfreth, opposed.

### Firearms and public safety

Her Senate district included Annapolis, site of the June 28, 2018, Capital Gazette shooting, which killed Rob Hiaasen, Wendi Winters, Gerald Fischman, John McNamara, and Rebecca Smith. In 2019 Elfreth and Delegate Alice Cain sponsored a joint resolution naming June 28 Freedom of the Press Day in their memory. The Senate passed it 46–0 and the House 137–0.

On March 16, 2022, she voted yes on Senate Bill 387, Public Safety – Untraceable Firearms, which passed 35–11. It brought certain unfinished frames or receivers into the definition of a firearm and restricted buying, receiving, selling, or transferring them, and it became law without the governor’s signature as Chapter 19. On March 13, 2023, she voted yes as the Senate passed the Gun Safety Act of 2023 (Senate Bill 1), restricting the wearing, carrying, or transporting of firearms, 31–16.

### Foreign policy and national security

In the 2024 Democratic primary, the AIPAC-affiliated super PAC United Democracy Project spent $4.2 million for Elfreth against former Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn and a field of more than 20 candidates. The Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported that the two front-runners began with virtually identical positions on Israel, both backing emergency defense funding for the war against Hamas, and that a UDP spokesman explaining the spending did not mention Israel. Elfreth told Jewish Insider she opposed conditions on U.S. aid to Israel, tied humanitarian aid to a two-state path, and said she would back a permanent cease-fire if hostages returned and more aid arrived. She also said Hamas had to leave power in Gaza. UDP said it valued Dunn’s support for a strong U.S.-Israel relationship but preferred Elfreth for her record on abortion, climate, and domestic violence, and that other candidates, not Dunn, were the ones it called anti-Israel.

The Clerk assigns her to the House Armed Services Committee and its Readiness and Seapower and Projection Forces subcommittees. She voted no on House passage of the fiscal 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 3838) on September 10, 2025 (231–196) and no on the fiscal 2027 act (H.R. 8800) on July 22, 2026 (216–212). Of the later bill she said she would not authorize what she called $1.15 trillion while the administration waged what she termed an “unjustified, unconstitutional war with Iran,” and she also objected to provisions she called culture-war language and to what she said was a lack of checks on the Defense Department.

On March 5, 2026, she voted for H.Con.Res. 38, directing the president under the War Powers Resolution to remove U.S. forces from what the measure called unauthorized hostilities in Iran. It failed 212–219. She said six U.S. service members had been killed, that officials had not shown an imminent threat or a clear plan, and that Article I assigns the war decision to Congress. On June 4, 2026, she voted for the Ukraine Support Act (H.R. 2913), which passed 226–195.

## 2026 reelection

Incumbent Democratic U.S. representative Sarah Elfreth ran for a second term in Maryland's 3rd congressional district on November 3, 2026. The Maryland State Board of Elections set the primary for June 23, 2026, and general election day for November 3, with polls open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. both days. The Maryland State Archives likewise dates the primary to June 23, the fourth Tuesday in June under the Election Law Article.

Official primary returns, refreshed July 23, 2026, with all 214 election-day precincts reported, gave Elfreth 55,784 votes (74.71%) in the Democratic contest. Austin Dyches received 7,999 (10.71%), Jennifer Cross 6,178 (8.27%), Sean Hammond 2,744 (3.68%), and Robert Gerald Morrison 1,961 (2.63%), out of 74,666 votes. The Capital Gazette reported her as the projected primary winner. In the Republican primary, Berney Flowers won the nomination with 10,428 votes (48.92%), ahead of John White with 5,491 (25.76%), Ray Bly with 3,241 (15.20%), and Felix M. Seier with 2,156 (10.11%), out of 21,316 votes.

On election night, the [Associated Press](/organizations/associated-press) reported that Elfreth had won reelection, in a dispatch carried by WBAL. The Capital Gazette likewise reported that she defeated Flowers. Unofficial State Board totals, last refreshed at 10:33 p.m. on November 10, with 214 of 214 election-day precincts reported, showed Elfreth with 202,080 votes (67.28%) and Flowers with 97,441 (32.44%). Republican write-in Robert L. Coffman had 27 votes (0.01%), and other write-ins 796 (0.27%). The page labeled the count unofficial and did not mark a winner. Elfreth led in Howard County, 101,672 to 31,480, and in Anne Arundel County, 96,901 to 61,051; Flowers led in Carroll County, 4,910 to 3,507.

In a Maryland Matters voter guide, Elfreth stressed utility and grocery prices, housing, tariffs, and child care, and said she had opposed Immigration and Customs Enforcement and [Department of Homeland Security](/organizations/department-of-homeland-security) funding and Medicaid and SNAP cuts. Flowers, identified there as an Air Force veteran, argued for a secure border, faster legal immigration, spending restraint, domestic energy production, and fewer barriers in housing and health care.

## Personal life

As of November 2026, Elfreth’s congressional office states that she lives in Annapolis with her husband, Eric, and her dog, Ollie, and that she enjoys hiking, being on the water, and collecting oyster plates. A one-page biography still posted on the same site uses nearly identical language but calls Eric her fiancé. In a January 2025 speech she described herself as “a downtown Ward One resident,” saying she wanted alderman Harry Huntley to represent her on the Annapolis City Council. The Maryland Manual lists her as vice president of Annapolis’s Ward One Residents Association since 2014.

Reporting identified that Eric as Eric T. Costello, a Democrat born in Brooklyn, [New York](/organizations/new-york), in 1980, who represented District 11 in Baltimore on the Baltimore City Council from October 6, 2014, to December 5, 2024, and chaired the council’s Ways and Means Committee from 2020 to 2024. The Baltimore Banner described Elfreth as Costello’s girlfriend at a fundraiser on August 9, 2023. In May 2024, with his reelection unresolved, the Banner called her his partner and reported that he lived in Federal Hill while she lived in Anne Arundel County. He lost that month’s Democratic primary to Zac Blanchard by 48 votes out of nearly 7,000. In a December 2024 interview with the Bolton Hill Community Association bulletin, Costello referred to Elfreth as his girlfriend of two years and said her election to Congress offset his disappointment at leaving office. Baltimore Brew reported in July 2025 that he had become director of government relations for Atlas Restaurant Group. Neither her office biography nor those news accounts gives an engagement or wedding date.

The Maryland Manual records honors that include The Daily Record’s “Top 20 in Their Twenties” (2014), the Fannie Lou Hamer Award from the Anne Arundel County [Martin Luther King Jr](/people/martin-luther-king-jr). Committee (2017), a dean’s recognition award from the College of Liberal Arts at Towson University (2019), an Open Space Champion Award from the Maryland Association of County Park and Recreation Administrators (2022), and 2024 Legislators of the Year from the Maryland League of Conservation Voters, the state affiliate of the League of Conservation Voters. The state league presented the 2024 award on September 26 at the University of Maryland, College Park, jointly to Elfreth and then-senator Sara Love, for their roles in that session’s environmental legislation.

## Electoral history

### Maryland Senate

Sarah K. Elfreth won the Democratic Party nomination for Maryland Senate District 30 in the June 26, 2018, primary, defeating Chrissy Holt. The Maryland State Board of Elections marked her the winner after all 45 election-day precincts reported.

| Candidate | Party | Votes | Percentage |
| --- | --- | ---: | ---: |
| Sarah K. Elfreth | Democratic | 6,482 | 58.8% |
| Chrissy Holt | Democratic | 4,547 | 41.2% |

In the November 6, 2018, general election she defeated [Republican Party](/organizations/republican-party) nominee Ron George and [Libertarian Party](/organizations/libertarian-party) nominee Christopher Wallace, Sr. Write-ins were reported separately, and all 45 election-day precincts reported.

| Candidate | Party | Votes | Percentage |
| --- | --- | ---: | ---: |
| Sarah K. Elfreth | Democratic | 29,736 | 53.8% |
| Ron George | Republican | 24,639 | 44.6% |
| Christopher Wallace, Sr. | Libertarian | 826 | 1.5% |
| Other write-ins | Write-in | 38 | 0.1% |

Elfreth was the only Democratic candidate in the July 19, 2022, primary. Official results updated August 24, 2022, gave her 12,481 votes (100.00 percent), with all 42 election-day precincts reported.

| Candidate | Party | Votes | Percentage |
| --- | --- | ---: | ---: |
| Sarah Elfreth | Democratic | 12,481 | 100.00% |

She won a second term on November 8, 2022, against Republican Stacie MacDonald. The official report, refreshed December 7, 2022, listed votes only from Anne Arundel County.

| Candidate | Party | Votes | Percentage |
| --- | --- | ---: | ---: |
| Sarah Elfreth | Democratic | 30,359 | 57.39% |
| Stacie MacDonald | Republican | 22,489 | 42.51% |
| Other write-ins | Write-in | 49 | 0.09% |

### United States House

Elfreth placed first in a 22-candidate field in the 2024 Democratic primary for the United States House of Representatives from Maryland's 3rd congressional district. The official canvass, refreshed June 13, 2024, after all 213 election-day precincts reported, recorded 81,428 votes. The five leading candidates are below; the other 17 received the remaining 12,617 votes. Harry Anthony Dunn was second.

| Candidate | Party | Votes | Percentage |
| --- | --- | ---: | ---: |
| Sarah Elfreth | Democratic | 29,459 | 36.18% |
| Harry Anthony Dunn | Democratic | 20,380 | 25.03% |
| Clarence Lam | Democratic | 9,548 | 11.73% |
| Terri Hill | Democratic | 5,318 | 6.53% |
| Mark S. Chang | Democratic | 4,106 | 5.04% |

In the November 5, 2024, general election she defeated Republican Robert J. Steinberger and Libertarian Miguel Barajas. Official results were last refreshed December 5, 2024, with all 213 election-day precincts reported.

| Candidate | Party | Votes | Percentage |
| --- | --- | ---: | ---: |
| Sarah Elfreth | Democratic | 236,681 | 59.29% |
| Robert J. Steinberger | Republican | 151,186 | 37.87% |
| Miguel Barajas | Libertarian | 10,471 | 2.62% |
| Other write-ins | Write-in | 862 | 0.22% |

Elfreth won the June 23, 2026, Democratic primary. Official results refreshed July 23, 2026, with all 214 election-day precincts reported, showed 74,666 votes and four other candidates.

| Candidate | Party | Votes | Percentage |
| --- | --- | ---: | ---: |
| Sarah Elfreth | Democratic | 55,784 | 74.71% |
| Austin Dyches | Democratic | 7,999 | 10.71% |
| Jennifer Cross | Democratic | 6,178 | 8.27% |
| Sean Hammond | Democratic | 2,744 | 3.68% |
| Robert Gerald Morrison | Democratic | 1,961 | 2.63% |

Unofficial returns for the November 3, 2026, general election, last refreshed at 10:33 p.m. on November 10, 2026, had Elfreth ahead of Republican Berney Flowers. All 214 election-day precincts had reported, but provisional ballots were still marked not reported, and the board headed the report as unofficial.

| Candidate | Party | Votes | Percentage |
| --- | --- | ---: | ---: |
| Sarah Elfreth | Democratic | 202,080 | 67.28% |
| Berney Flowers | Republican | 97,441 | 32.44% |
| Robert L. Coffman | Republican (write-in) | 27 | 0.01% |
| Other write-ins | Write-in | 796 | 0.27% |

## Dated facts

_No published facts on this page yet._

## Methodology

https://factrail.ai/methodology

Canonical: https://factrail.ai/people/sarah-elfreth