Linda Foley | |
|---|---|
 Foley in 2023 | |
| Member of theMaryland House of Delegates from the15th district | |
| Assumed office December 17, 2021 Serving with David Fraser-Hidalgo andLily Qi | |
| Appointed by | Larry Hogan |
| Preceded by | Kathleen Dumais |
| Vice President of theCommunication Workers of America | |
| In office 1995–2008 | |
| Succeeded by | Bernie Lunzer |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1955-03-10)March 10, 1955 (age 70) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Occupation | |
Linda K. Foley (born March 10, 1955) is an American politician and labor organizer who previously served as president of theNewspaper Guild and vice-president of theCommunications Workers of America from 1995 through 2008. In December 2021,Maryland GovernorLarry Hogan appointed her to fill a vacancy inDistrict 15 of theMaryland House of Delegates (Montgomery County).[1][2]
Foley was born inPittsburgh on March 10, 1955, where she attendedFox Chapel Area High School.[2]
She was areporter for theLexington Herald-Leader inLexington,Kentucky before turning to full-time work at theGuild in 1984. She was elected its secretary-treasurer in 1993 and its president in 1995. She received aBachelor of Science degree in journalism from theMedill School of Journalism atNorthwestern University inEvanston,Illinois, in 1977.
In 1995, Foley was elected the first woman President of the Newspaper Guild, which would eventually merge with the Communications Workers of America in 1997.[3] In May 2008, Foley was defeated for re-election by Newspaper Guild Secretary-Treasurer Bernie Lunzer.[4]
Foley later became the president of the Berger-Marks Foundation, an organization promoting women in the labor movement, which closed in 2017.[5] She was elected to the Montgomery County, Maryland, Democratic Central Committee in 2018 and subsequently became the chair of theMontgomery County, Maryland, Democratic Party.[6]
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In December 2021, the Montgomery County Democratic Party voted 20-2 to nominate Foley to fill a vacancy left by the resignation of former DelegateKathleen Dumais, who was appointed as a Circuit Court judge byMaryland GovernorLarry Hogan. Her opponents, attorney Michael Shrier and former delegateSaqib Ali, each garnered one vote.[7] Hogan appointed Foley to the House of Delegates on December 14, 2021.[1]
During the 2025 legislative session he sponsored a bill, along withMarvin E. Holmes Jr.,Nick Allen,Wayne A. Hartman,Denise Roberts, andRegina T. Boyce, revising the2023 mandate for funding ofreserve studies and preparation of funding plans byhousing cooperatives,condominiums, andhomeowners associations.[8][9]
Ms. Foley drew criticism after May 13, 2005, for stating that theU.S. military is responsible for journalists being targeted – "not just being targeted verbally or, politically. They are also being targeted for real, in places likeIraq. What outrages me as a representative of journalists is that there's not more outrage about the number, and the brutality and the cavalier nature of the US military toward the killing of journalists in Iraq. I think it's just a scandal. They target and kill journalists from other countries, particularly Arab countries likeAl Jazeera, for example. They actually target them and blow up their studios with impunity."[10]
In August 2005, theColumbia Journalism Review stated in an editorial: "Target and kill? Foley has been under attack since she said those words. And should be. Even the infamous killing of journalists by tank fire at the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad was found not to have been deliberate, in an extensive investigation by Reporters Without Borders. Some facts: according to The Committee to Protect Journalists, at least 36 journalists have been killed in action in Iraq since March 2003, along with 18 media support workers; insurgent actions account for 34 of those 54 deaths; U.S. military fire accounts for at least 11. The committee says the record shows that "the military seems indifferent and unwilling . . . to take steps to mitigate risk." But target and kill? The committee finds "no evidence to conclude that the U.S. military has deliberately targeted the press in Iraq. So on that subject here's what Foley should have said: nothing."[11]