Annapolis, MD — Baltimore City Democratic Central Committee Chairman Scherod Barnes issued the following statement on the State Senate seat in the 41st Legislative District vacated by Senator Nathaniel Oaks:
“The Baltimore City Democratic Central Committee is committed to an open, transparent, and expeditious process for filling this vacancy to ensure that the residents in the 41st Legislative District have adequate representation. The appointment process has already been set in motion, and in the coming days, we will solicit applications for the seat from the public, to submit our recommendation to the Governor.”
Democratic Central Committees (DCC) act in an open and transparent manner to fill all vacant legislative seats expeditiously, in accordance with the Maryland Constitution and the Maryland Democratic Party by-laws. Under the Maryland Constitution, the DCC has 30 days from the occurrence of the vacancy to submit a candidate for appointment to the Governor, who then has 15 days to fill the seat. The Democratic Party’s by-laws requires the DCC to give the public two weeks’ notice of its intention to fill a vacant seat, so all applicants interested in filling the seat have an opportunity to apply for the vacancy. The DCC members representing the vacant seat will then interview applicants and vote to submit a candidate for appointment to the Governor on a majority vote.