Bryan Simonaire | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Minority Leader of theMaryland Senate | |
| In office October 10, 2020 – January 11, 2023 | |
| Whip | Justin Ready |
| Preceded by | J. B. Jennings |
| Succeeded by | Stephen S. Hershey Jr. |
| Member of theMaryland Senate from the31st district | |
| Assumed office January 10, 2007 | |
| Preceded by | Philip C. Jimeno |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Bryan Warner Simonaire (1963-09-06)September 6, 1963 (age 61) Baltimore,Maryland, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Children | 7, includingMeagan |
| Education | Bob Jones University (BS) Loyola University Maryland (MS) |
| Occupation | Computer systems engineer |
| Signature |  |
Bryan Warner Simonaire (born September 6, 1963) is an American politician who serves as aMaryland state senator representing District 31, which encompasses much of northernAnne Arundel County'sBaltimore suburbs. A member of theRepublican Party, he served as the minority leader of the Maryland Senate from 2020 to 2023.
Simonaire was born inBaltimore. He graduated fromBob Jones University in 1985, receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science, and fromLoyola College, where he earned a Master of Science degree in engineering in 2005. He is a member ofUpsilon Pi Epsilon.[1][2]
After graduating from Bob Jones, Simonaire has worked as acomputer systems engineer forWestinghouse Electronic Systems (nowNorthrop Grumman since its acquisition in 1995). In 2002, he founded Heroes-at-Home, a web-based program that helps the needy.[1][3]
Simonaire became involved in politics in 2005, when he joined the North Count Republican Club's board of directors.[1] He entered the race for state Senate in District 31 later that year, seeking to succeed retiringDemocratic state senatorPhilip C. Jimeno[3] and running on a "common sense, conservative"[4] platform that included opposition tosame-sex marriage.[5] The district was targeted by theMaryland Republican Party, which saw the election as an opportunity to make legislative gains.[6] Simonaire won the Republican primary in September 2006,[7] and later won the general election on November 7, 2006, defeating Democratic state delegate Walter J. Shandrowsky by 659 votes, or a margin of 1.72 percent. It was the closest election in the2006 Maryland Senate elections.[8]
.jpg)
Simonaire was sworn into theMaryland Senate on January 10, 2007. He was initially a member of the Judicial Proceedings Committee from 2007 to 2010, afterwards serving on the Health and Environmental Affairs Committee until 2022. Since 2023, he has served on the Education, Energy, and the Environment Committee.[1]
Simonaire endorsedMitt Romney in the2012 Republican Party presidential primaries and later served a Romney delegate to the2012 Republican National Convention.[1][9]
In 2014, Simonaire proposed a constitutional amendment to remove legislative leaders' ability to remove voting powers from any member of theMaryland General Assembly. The amendment was introduced after state DelegateDon H. Dwyer Jr. was stripped of his voting powers and committee assignments after being sentenced to 30 weekends in jail for driving under the influence.[10] In 2016, Simonaire introduced the "Dwyer amendment", which would have prevented Senate presidentThomas V. Miller Jr. from removing a member's voting powers. The proposed rule change was rejected in a 11-31 vote.[11]
In October 2020, Simonaire was elected as the minority leader of the Maryland Senate, which was seen by the media as the Senate Republican caucus becoming more conservative as to push back on the perceived leftward shift of theMaryland Democratic Party following the election ofBill Ferguson as Senate president.[2][12] In this capacity, Simonaire sought to allow his party to make their own committee assignments[13] and oversaw the party's state Senate campaign in2022, in which the party lost two seats in the Maryland Senate.[14] Following the 2022 elections, Senate Republicans opted to electStephen S. Hershey Jr. as minority leader.[15]
Simonaire endorsed Maryland Secretary of CommerceKelly M. Schulz in the2022 Maryland gubernatorial election.[16] After she was defeated by far-right state delegateDan Cox in the Republican primary, he declined to endorse or campaign with Cox, instead focusing on competitive Senate elections.[14][17]
On March 25, 2025, Simonaire announced that he would not seek re-election to a sixth term in2026.[18]
In 2009, Simonaire said he would vote to repeal thedeath penalty if legislators passed a constitutional amendment to bansame-sex marriage in Maryland.[19] He later voted for an amendment to the death penalty repeal bill to limit the death penalty's use rather than fully repeal it, which passed 25-21.[20] During the 2013 legislative session, Simonaire voted against repealing the death penalty.[21]
During the 2022 legislative session, Simonaire implored legislators to pass atough-on-crime bill introduced by GovernorLarry Hogan.[22] He also expressed willingness to work with Democrats to pass a bipartisan judicial transparency bill.[23]
Simonaire opposes theBlueprint for Maryland's Future, calling for its repeal during the 2021 legislative session and comparing them to the Bridge of Excellence education reforms in 2002.[24][25] He supports legislation requiring theMaryland State Board of Education to prepare a problem gambling curriculum in schools.[26]
During the 2011 legislative session, Simonaire said he opposedMaryland's Dream Act, a bill that extendedin-state tuition forundocumented immigrants.[27]
During the 2022 legislative session, Simonaire introduced a bill that would force the county Board of Education to vote on certain curriculum items if a petition got the signatures of at least three percent of parents.[28]
During the 2015 legislative session, Simonaire testified against a bill to restore voting rights for ex-felons.[29]
In May 2020, Simonaire asked GovernorLarry Hogan to call a special session to pass election integrity bills, expressing concern that the use ofmail-in ballots in the2020 elections would lead to voter fraud.[30]
During the 2021 legislative session, Simonaire introduced a package of election reform bills, includingvoter ID laws and signature verification on mail-in ballots, citing what he called "major deficiencies" in the2020 United States presidential election.[31][32] The package failed to move out of committee,[33] and many bills from the package were reintroduced in 2022.[34][35] He also supported a bill to shift control of local election boards to whichever party had a majority of registered voters in each jurisdiction,[36] and sought to amend a bill to expand early voting centers to require local boards of elections to consider "geographical distance" in deciding where to locate early voting centers.[37]
Simonaire opposed the congressional maps drawn by the Legislative Redistricting Advisory Committee (LRAC), of which he was a member, instead supporting maps drawn by GovernorLarry Hogan's Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission.[38] During the LRAC's map drawing process, he pressed for a bipartisan map drawing process and hoped legislators would produce a single map, but predicted that Democrats on the commission would pass their own map.[39] He criticized the commission's final congressional and legislative maps as "seriouslygerrymandered".[40][41] After JudgeLynne A. Battaglia struck down the state's congressional maps in March 2022, Simonaire criticized Democrats for not including Republicans in the process of drafting a new map.[42]
Simonaire is anenvironmentalist[2] and has expressed willingness to work with legislators to pass a bipartisan climate bill.[43] He voted in favor of bills to banfracking[44] andfoam containers in Maryland.[45]
Simonaire was critical ofMaryland's "Rain Tax" and introduced legislation in 2013 to offset the fee in Anne Arundel County.[46] In 2015, he voted in favor of a bill to make the rain tax optional for Maryland's largest jurisdictions.[47]
During the 2021 legislative session, Simonaire expressed concern with the Climate Solutions Now Act, which he said would force jurisdictions to choose between planting more trees and protecting local sewage projects.[48] After it was reintroduced in 2022, he objected to provisions that would require large buildings to become carbon neutral by 2040[49] and expressed that legislators should instead focus on climate solutions "starting at the regional level".[50]
During the 2013 legislative session, Simonaire voted against the Firearms Safety Act, a bill that placed restrictions on firearm purchases and magazine capacity insemi-automatic rifles.[51]
Simonaire is asocial conservative, opposingabortion rights and same-sex marriage,[2] citing religious beliefs.[52]
Simonaire opposed theCivil Marriage Protection Act, readingKing & King on the Senate floor to protest the bill[53] and warning that "young, impressionable students" would be taught the "homosexual worldview" if the bill passed.[54] He also unsuccessfully sought to amend the bill to allow religious adoption agencies to refuse services to same-sex couples.[55] In 2015, he voted against a bill that would allow same-sex couples to use donor sperm forin vitro fertilization.[56]
In 2014, Simonaire said he opposed a bill to prohibit discrimination againsttransgender people.[57] In 2021, he was the lone vote against a bill to allow transgender people to change their names without advertising it in newspapers.[58]
In 2015, Simonaire introduced a"right to try" bill that would allow terminally ill patients to try experimental drugs not approved by theFood and Drug Administration.[59] In 2019, he spoke against the End-of-Life Option Act, which would have providedpalliative care to terminally ill adults.[60]
During the 2016 legislative session, Simonaire introduced legislation to revise a translation of thestate's motto to "Strong deeds, gentle words", saying that he believed that the current meaning of the motto ("Manly deeds, womanly words") was sexist.[61][62]
In 2022, Simonaire downplayed the impact of theU.S. Supreme Court's decision inDobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which overturnedRoe v. Wade, calling it a "Democratic ploy" to energize voters.[63] In 2023, during debate on a bill creating aballot referendum to codify abortion access rights into theConstitution of Maryland, Simonaire compared abortion to the death penalty and sought to amend the bill to prohibit abortions afterfetal viability, which failed by a vote of 13-33.[64]
In 2013, Simonaire said he opposed a bill to provide $450,000 in tax breaks toLockheed Martin.[65]
In 2021, Simonaire spoke against legislation to extend the state'searned income tax credit toundocumented immigrants.[66] He also opposed legislation to allow counties to implementprogressive income taxes[67] and to impose a tax ondigital advertising, and unsuccessfully attempted to amend the tax bill to prevent large companies from increasing prices for consumers or small businesses to pay for the tax.[68]
During the 2022 legislative session, Simonaire supported a bill to cut taxes oncentenarians and implored legislators to pass additional tax cuts.[69]
In March 2024, following theFrancis Scott Key Bridge collapse, Simonaire and state senatorJohnny Ray Salling introduced a bill that would allow the governor to declare a year-long state of emergency after damage to critical infrastructure, though it would eliminate the authority to seize private property for government use, as now allowed under a state of emergency.[70] The bill was withdrawn following discussions with the Moore administration.[71]
Simonaire is married and has seven children.[1] He lives inPasadena, Maryland,[72] and attendsnondenominational Christian churches.[52]
.jpg)
During the 2018 legislative session, Simonaire spoke against a bill to banconversion therapy on minors, arguing that it would dissuade teens from seeking counseling.[73] His daughter,Meagan, a member of theMaryland House of Delegates, spoke in support of the bill and accused her father of seeking conversion therapy for her after shecame out asbisexual in 2015.[74] Simonaire disputed his daughter's story in interviews with the media, saying that he had recommended herChristian counseling after she approached him for advice with her depression and anxiety,[75][76] but added that he disagreed with her "lifestyle".[77]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Bryan Simonaire | 3,032 | 42.0 | |
| Republican | Carl G. "Dutch" Holland | 1,620 | 22.4 | |
| Republican | Mike Jacobs | 1,533 | 21.2 | |
| Republican | Thomas R. Gardner | 821 | 11.4 | |
| Republican | Charles "Casey" Robison | 218 | 3.0 | |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Bryan Simonaire | 19,516 | 50.8 | |
| Democratic | Walter J. Shandrowsky | 18,857 | 49.1 | |
| Write-in | 28 | 0.1 | ||
| Republicangain fromDemocratic | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Bryan Simonaire (incumbent) | 25,744 | 62.1 | ||
| Democratic | Ned Carey | 15,688 | 37.8 | ||
| Write-in | 35 | 0.1 | |||
| Republicanhold | |||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Bryan Simonaire (incumbent) | 28,338 | 72.1 | ||
| Democratic | Anthony Scott Harman | 10,929 | 27.8 | ||
| Write-in | 34 | 0.1 | |||
| Republicanhold | |||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Bryan Simonaire (incumbent) | 29,489 | 61.0 | ||
| Democratic | Scott Harman | 18,778 | 38.9 | ||
| Write-in | 61 | 0.1 | |||
| Republicanhold | |||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Bryan Simonaire (incumbent) | 32,215 | 71.3 | ||
| Libertarian | Brian W. Kunkoski | 12,318 | 27.2 | ||
| Write-in | 681 | 1.5 | |||
| Republicanhold | |||||
| Maryland Senate | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Minority Leader of theMaryland Senate 2020–2023 | Succeeded by |