AnnMarie Abell

"St. Mary's County ranks 23rd out of 24 Maryland counties in public school spending per student. That is a crisis. Our students — from pre-K through high school — deserve learning environments that set them up for success. Our educators deserve the resources and support to do their best work. And our community deserves a pipeline of skilled workers who are ready to fill the jobs of the 21st century."

"Right now, St. Mary's County is home to two separate economies living side by side. One, centered on defense and high-tech, with median household incomes well over $100,000. The other — made up of service workers, educators, public safety workers, tradespeople, farmers, and small business owners — leaves families working two jobs or more just to get by... St. Mary's has been talking about diversifying its economy for years — away from dependence on the base and the defense industry. But talk without action is just noise. AnnMarie Abell will act."

"Between 1500-2000 housing units short. Families are being priced out of the county they call home. Affordability is not an abstract concept — it's the ability to live where you work, raise your kids where you grew up, and build a life in the community you love... And the people who keep this county running — teachers, nurses, tradespeople, service workers — can only afford to stay here with creative living arrangements or working more than one job. The cost of infrastructure expansion such as roads, water and sewer, limits new housing development. That has to end."

"Decades of the same decisions, the same results. It's time to ask better questions and demand real answers. Better governing is not a slogan. It is the foundation that makes everything else possible... Right now, development proposals are being evaluated using traffic studies from two or three decades ago. Failure to close loopholes with local ordinances that allow facilities like a cannabis grow facility to be built without a public hearing. County budgets falling short in commitment to fully funding our public schools or our public safety. District-based voting — which would allow residents to hold their specific representative accountable — is still not a reality."

"Better governing is not a slogan. It is the foundation that makes everything else possible... County budgets falling short in commitment to fully funding our public schools or our public safety. AnnMarie Abell has spent her career in federal government doing exactly what county leadership should be doing: asking hard questions, listening to the people closest to the problem, understanding how systems connect, and delivering results."