Baltimore and Harford counties’ Senate and House seats remain solidly Republican territory, though a defamation suit against Del. Kathy Szeliga was only dismissed this spring.
By MDBayNews Staff
Legislative District 7, spanning northern Baltimore County and part of Harford County, is safe Republican ground and figures to stay that way in November. Registration runs nearly 45 percent Republican to under 35 percent Democratic, and every GOP incumbent up this cycle cleared a primary. The more interesting fights, as is often the case here, happened in June.
“The more interesting fights, as is often the case here, happened in June.”
State Senate: Jennings seeks another term unopposed
Republican Sen. J.B. Jennings, who has represented District 7 since 2011 after eight years in the House, faced no primary challenge and is a fixture of Harford County politics. A farmer and Maryland Air National Guard member, Jennings previously served as Senate Minority Leader from 2014 to 2020 and has built a legislative record this year that includes bills on condo association emergency reserve funds, historic vehicle license plates, and pushback against state limits on local police cooperation with federal immigration authorities — the latter covered by MDBayNews in March.
His Democratic opponent, Bill Geibler, also ran unopposed for the nomination. Geibler’s campaign describes a focus on representing Harford and Baltimore County residents “without partisanship.”
House of Delegates, District 7A: both GOP incumbents survive a close primary
District 7A, covering the Baltimore-Harford county line, elects two delegates. Both Republican incumbents narrowly turned back challenges from each other’s margins rather than from outside opposition, since only two Republicans filed for two seats:
Certified Republican primary results (7A):
Kathy Szeliga (incumbent) — 5,095 votes, 50.7%
Ryan Nawrocki (incumbent) — 4,959 votes, 49.3%
“Both Republican incumbents narrowly turned back challenges from each other’s margins rather than from outside opposition.”
Both advance automatically since no other Republican filed. Szeliga, who has served since 2011 and previously represented the old 7th district before redistricting split it into 7A and 7B, was Maryland’s Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in 2016 and has been a prominent statewide GOP figure since.
Two separate, unrelated matters have touched Szeliga’s campaign this year. In 2024, she was one of four Baltimore County-area Republican delegates — along with Nawrocki, Arikan, and Del. Robin Grammer Jr. of District 6 — who signed a letter to a school superintendent accusing a Baltimore County teacher of making an online death threat and calling for her termination. The teacher, Alexa Sciuto, sued the four delegates and several other parties for defamation in 2025. A Baltimore County judge dismissed the delegates from the case in April 2026, but related claims against other defendants in the suit are continuing.
Separately, Szeliga’s campaign treasurer, longtime Maryland GOP finance figure James Appel, was indicted in March 2026 on federal wire fraud and money laundering charges; prosecutors allege he diverted roughly $100,000 from Szeliga’s campaign account, along with funds from an unrelated nonprofit, partly to help finance a yacht purchase. Szeliga has described her campaign as a victim of the alleged scheme and said she is cooperating with the FBI.
“Both are live threads worth tracking through November regardless of how sympathetically or unsympathetically each cuts for the delegation.”
Nawrocki, a communications professional first elected in 2022, sits on the Environment and Transportation Committee and has co-sponsored bipartisan legislation this session to protect inspector general access to records, which MDBayNews covered in February.
Four Democrats competed for their party’s two nominations:
Certified Democratic primary results (7A):
Ly Xinzhen Brown — 2,945 votes, 28.3%
Satish Chapagain — 2,718 votes, 26.1%
Tom Baker — 2,530 votes, 24.3%
Cleveland M. Reynolds Jr. — 2,209 votes, 21.2%
Brown, a Georgetown- and Northeastern-educated attorney who works as public policy director for a national disability nonprofit, moved to Carney in 2020. Chapagain, a Baltimore County Public Schools interpreter and member of the Maryland Democratic Party Central Committee, campaigns on public safety and youth programming. Baker and Reynolds both fell short.
House of Delegates, District 7B: an incumbent with no primary opponent
District 7B, covering Harford County territory including Bel Air, is Del. Lauren Arikan’s seat. Arikan, first elected to the old 7th district in 2018 and redrawn into 7B in 2023, faced no primary challenge and is running against Democrat Candace Hart, an Edgewood High School graduate with political science and psychology degrees from Harford Community College who is also running unopposed for her nomination.
What to watch
Whether the Sciuto lawsuit or the Appel indictment resurface as campaign issues. The delegates’ dismissal from the defamation suit doesn’t end that case, and the Appel prosecution — where Szeliga is a described victim rather than a target — is still working through federal court. Both are live threads worth tracking through November regardless of how sympathetically or unsympathetically each cuts for the delegation.
Legislative record versus district mood on immigration enforcement. Jennings’ public opposition to limits on local-federal immigration cooperation, and similar positions taken by his House colleagues, will likely remain a defining contrast with Democratic legislative leadership heading into 2027.
Data center and energy policy. With Szeliga and colleagues raising concerns about state energy mandates and solar subsidies amid rising utility bills, expect District 7’s delegation to keep pushing back on Annapolis energy policy regardless of the outcome in November.
“District 7’s delegation will keep pushing back on Annapolis energy policy regardless of the outcome in November.”
Sources: Candidate listings, filing statuses, and certified primary vote totals are drawn from the Maryland State Board of Elections’ certified 2026 primary and general election candidate lists, cross-checked against certified county-level results compiled by Ballotpedia. Candidate biographical details are drawn from Wikipedia’s sourced pages for Maryland Legislative District 7, J.B. Jennings, Kathy Szeliga, Ryan Nawrocki and Lauren Arikan; The Baltimore Banner’s 2026 primary voter guide profile of Ly Xinzhen Brown; MarylandIQ’s candidate profile of Candace Hart; and candidate campaign websites for Bill Geibler and Satish Chapagain. Reporting on the Sciuto defamation lawsuit and its April 2026 partial dismissal is drawn from The Baltimore Banner’s ongoing coverage. Reporting on the James Appel federal indictment is drawn from The Baltimore Sun, The Baltimore Banner, Maryland Matters, Fox45’s Spotlight on Maryland, and Avenue News.
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