$4.59.
This Memorial Day weekend, when District 5 families hit the road to the beach or to see family, that’s what they’ll be paying at the pump.
And every one of those trips is costing more than it should.
Maryland has one of the highest gas taxes in America. In 2022, when prices spiked, the state suspended the gas tax and gave families real relief. It worked.
This year, Governor Moore has the same tool sitting on his desk — and he’s choosing to do nothing.
Let me be clear about something. The gas tax exists for a reason. It pays for roads, bridges, and the transportation infrastructure that Maryland families depend on every day. Nobody serious is arguing we should eliminate it.
But there’s a difference between funding infrastructure and refusing to give families relief when prices spike. Governor Hogan understood that difference in 2022. Governor Moore doesn’t seem to.
The honest question is: why is the flexibility to suspend the gas tax — even temporarily, even in a crisis — off the table in 2026?
The answer isn’t infrastructure. It’s that Maryland is in fiscal trouble — and that fiscal trouble is the direct result of an agenda in Annapolis that prioritizes feel-good projects in Baltimore and, closer to home, Columbia, over the everyday cost-of-living concerns of families in places like West Friendship, Glenelg, Glenwood, Woodbine, and Clarksville.
When the state is spending beyond its means on priorities that don’t reach District 5, there’s no room to give District 5 a break when we need one. Every dollar that goes to a politically fashionable project in Baltimore or a downtown Columbia priority is a dollar that can’t be returned to a family filling up in Cooksville before a long drive.
That’s not an accident. That’s a choice. And it’s a choice Annapolis keeps making.
I suspect my opponents agree with Governor Moore’s decision. After all, they are running on their close ties to the elected establishment — the same people who fail to see that a Baltimore- and Columbia-centric agenda makes everyday life harder for families in our community.
It’s not personal. I just respectfully disagree.
District 5 deserves a representative on the County Council who will push back on the Annapolis agenda when it hurts our families — not someone who’s running on how close they are to the people writing it.
District 5 families drive farther. To work. To school. To practice. To the grocery store. And this weekend, to wherever Memorial Day is taking them.
A gas tax that hits rural and suburban residents hardest isn’t fair, and it isn’t necessary. When prices spike, the state should suspend the tax. Period.
Howard County’s voice on the Council should be one that calls this out — not one that defers to Annapolis because that’s where the political relationships are.
On the Howard County Council, I will:
District 5 families don’t need more taxes every time they fill up. They need relief. They need accountability. And they need leadership focused on affordability — not on cultivating relationships with the people in Annapolis making everyday life harder.
Strong Schools. Lower Taxes. Safe Communities.