Dalya Attar | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Attar in 2023 | |
| Member of theMaryland Senate from the41st district | |
| Assumed office January 24, 2025 | |
| Appointed by | Wes Moore |
| Preceded by | Jill P. Carter |
| Member of theMaryland House of Delegates from the 41st district | |
| In office January 9, 2019 – January 24, 2025 | |
| Preceded by | Bilal Ali |
| Succeeded by | Sean Stinnett |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1990-10-17)October 17, 1990 (age 34) Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Children | 2 |
| Alma mater | University of Baltimore University of Maryland Law School |
| Profession | Attorney |
Dalya Attar (born October 17, 1990) is an American politician who has served as a member of theMaryland Senate representing the41st district since 2025. A member of theDemocratic Party, she previously represented the district in theMaryland House of Delegates from 2019 to 2025.
Attar was born fourth of six children to anIranian-Jewish father and aMoroccan-Jewish mother.[1] She was raised as aSephardiOrthodox Jew inBaltimore,[2] where she attended theBais Yaakov School for Girls.[3] Attar later graduated from theUniversity of Baltimore, where she earned aBachelor of Science degree in criminal justice in 2011, and theUniversity of Maryland, Baltimore, where she earned herJuris Doctor degree in 2014.[4]
While attending the University of Baltimore, Attar worked as a paralegal for Greenspan, Hitzel & Schrader until 2015, when she became a trial attorney for the firm.[5] In the same year, she also began working as an assistant state's attorney in the Baltimore State's Attorney office, prosecuting narcotics and firearms cases.[2][6]
Attar developed an interest in criminal justice while in middle school, and became interested in politics in high school.[3] She has citedJoe Lieberman,Sarah Schenirer, and Karen Chaya Friedman as her role models.[1][2]
On June 9, 2017, Attar announced that she would run for the Maryland House of Delegates in District 41.[7] During the Democratic primary, she ran on a platform of spurring development, improving schools, and reforming the juvenile justice system.[8] Attar won the Democratic primary in June 2018, defeating incumbentsAngela Gibson andBilal Ali.[9]
Attar was sworn into the Maryland House of Delegates on January 9, 2019.[5] She is the first Orthodox Jew elected to theMaryland General Assembly and the highest-ranking Orthodox Jewish woman in American history.[2][6] Attar served on the Environment and Transportation Committee from 2019 to 2020, afterwards serving as a member of the Ways and Means Committee until 2025.[5]
.jpg)
In January 2025, after state senatorJill P. Carter resigned following her nomination to the Maryland State Board of Contract Appeals, Attar applied to fill the remainder of Carter's term in theMaryland Senate.[10] The Baltimore City Democratic Central Committee voted 5–3 to nominate Attar to the seat later that month.[11] She was appointed to the seat by GovernorWes Moore and sworn in on January 24, 2025,[5] and is the youngest member of the Maryland Senate as of 2025.[12]
In March 2019, Attar voted against a bill that would allowschool resource officers to carry guns in Baltimore schools.[13] She also supported a bill that would allowJohns Hopkins University to have its own private police force.[14] During the 2020 legislative session, Attar introduced a bill that would require incarceration for violent offenders with open warrants.[3] She also supported a bill that would bandriver's license suspensions over unpaid parking tickets.[15] In January 2025, Attar proposed expanding access to "Grade A schools" to address juvenile crime in Maryland.[16]
Attar supports improving public schools and providing publicly-funded scholarships forprivate schools.[6]
During the 2024 legislative session, afterZainab Chaudry, the director of the stateCouncil on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR) chapter, was temporarily suspended from the state Commission on Hate Crime Response and Prevention for making Facebook posts comparing Israel toNazi Germany and calling attendees of theMarch for Israel "genocide sympathizers", Attar introduced legislation to remove Chaudry from the commission and replace her with "two members of the Muslim community".[17][18] The bill was amended to remove representatives from organizations including CAIR from the hate crimes commission by requiring members to be advocates for protected classes under Maryland's hate crime laws.[19]
Attar supports using anindependent redistricting commission to draw Maryland's legislative districts.[20]
During the 2020 legislative session, Attar introduced a bill that would prevent husbands from having a civil divorce unless they granted their wife agett.[2]
In 2022, Attar voted against a bill that would expand the types of medical professionals who can perform abortions in the state, and voted to sustain GovernorLarry Hogan's veto on the bill.[21]
During the 2023 legislative session, Attar introduced legislation to move Maryland's 2024 primary date from April 23—the first day ofPassover, which prevents Orthodox Jewish voters from participating in elections—to May 14.[22][23] The bill's contents were added to another bill, which passed and was signed by GovernorWes Moore.[24]
In January 2025, Attar expressed doubts with proposals to increaseincome taxes on millionaires to address the state's $3 billion budget deficit, suggesting that they could just leave the state to avoid paying higher taxes.[25] She also expressed support for cutting state funding for state universities, calling it her "first choice" in choosing how to address the deficit.[16]
During the 2022 legislative session, Attar supported a bill that would require theMaryland Department of Transportation to seek federal approval for theRed Line.[26]
Attar is married to Asaf Mehrzadi, a longtime family friend. Together, they have two children.[2][4]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Samuel I. Rosenberg (incumbent) | 7,795 | 17.2 | |
| Democratic | Dalya Attar | 7,773 | 17.1 | |
| Democratic | Tony Bridges | 5,476 | 12.1 | |
| Democratic | Angela Gibson (incumbent) | 5,308 | 11.7 | |
| Democratic | Bilal Ali (incumbent) | 5,194 | 11.4 | |
| Democratic | Richard Bruno | 2,996 | 6.6 | |
| Democratic | Tessa Hill-Aston | 2,862 | 6.3 | |
| Democratic | Sean Stinnett | 2,806 | 6.2 | |
| Democratic | Joyce J. Smith | 2,291 | 5.0 | |
| Democratic | George E. Mitchell | 2,101 | 4.6 | |
| Democratic | Walter J. Horton | 773 | 1.7 | |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Dalya Attar | 26,605 | 31.3 | |
| Democratic | Samuel I. Rosenberg (incumbent) | 26,333 | 31.0 | |
| Democratic | Tony Bridges | 26,194 | 30.9 | |
| Green | Drew A. Pate | 5,350 | 6.3 | |
| Write-in | 409 | 0.5 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Dalya Attar (incumbent) | 26,438 | 32.5 | |
| Democratic | Samuel I. Rosenberg (incumbent) | 25,557 | 31.4 | |
| Democratic | Tony Bridges (incumbent) | 24,782 | 30.5 | |
| Republican | Scott Graham | 4,240 | 5.2 | |
| Write-in | 272 | 0.3 | ||
Dalya Attar (b. 1990) was born in Baltimore to a religious Sephardic family of Iranian and Moroccan heritage.
"Members - Delegate Dalya Attar".mgaleg.maryland.gov. Maryland General Assembly. January 4, 2024. RetrievedJanuary 4, 2024.