In May 2009, Lewis Young announced that she would run for a seat on the Frederick Board of Aldermen, motivated by the 2008 United States presidential election and her community involvement.[3] She earned 14.34 percent of the vote in the Democratic primaries[4] and 11.57 percent of the vote in the general election.[5]
In 2013, Lewis Young unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Frederick,[6] earning 31.10 percent of the vote in the general election.[7]
In the legislature
Lewis Young in the Education, Energy, and the Environment Committee, 2023
In February 2014, Lewis Young announced that she would for the Maryland House of Delegates,[8] seeking to succeed delegate Galen R. Clagett, who was retiring that year.[9] She received 34.5 percent of the vote in the Democratic primary election[10] and defeated Republican challengers Victoria Wilkins and county commissioner Paul Smith in the general election with 26.3 percent of the vote.[11][12]
Lewis Young was sworn into the Maryland House of Delegates on January 14, 2015. She was a member of the Health and Government Operations Committee.[2] Upon her swearing in, she and her husband Ronald N. Young became the first husband and wife to simultaneously serve together in the Maryland General Assembly.[13] Lewis Young was subsequently re-elected to a second term in 2018.[14]
In June 2021, Lewis Young announced that she would run for Maryland Senate in 2022, seeking to succeed her husband, Ronald,[16] who later endorsed her campaign.[17] Lewis Young won the Democratic primary on July 19, 2022, defeating county school board member Jay Mason with 68.3 percent of the vote,[18] and later defeated Republican Angela Ariel McIntosh in the general election with 66.5 percent of the vote.[19]
Lewis Young was sworn into the Maryland Senate on January 11, 2023, becoming the first woman elected to represent western Maryland in the Senate.[20] She is a member of the Education, Energy, and Environment Committee.[2] Lewis Young was a delegate to the 2024 Democratic National Convention, pledged to Kamala Harris.[21]
Political positions
Education
In December 2015, Lewis Young said she disagreed with Governor Larry Hogan's decision to withhold funding from Maryland's costliest public school systems.[22]
During the 2017 legislative session, Lewis Young supported a bill to give the student member of the Frederick County Board of Education partial voting rights.[23] She criticized Republican members of the Frederick County Delegation for filibustering the bill[24] and, following the bill dying in the Frederick County Delegation, introduced the bill in the General Assembly.[25] The bill was reintroduced in 2020.[26]
Environment
During the 2023 legislative session, Lewis Young introduced legislation to strengthen the state's EmPOWER energy efficiency program by expanding its scope to include greenhouse gas emissions reductions.[27] The bill, which was opposed by state electric utilities companies, died in committee.[28]
Health care
During the 2015 legislative session, Lewis Young introduced a bill to encourage the prescription of abuse-deterrent painkillers to combat the heroin epidemic.[29] The bill passed and was signed into law by Governor Larry Hogan.[30] In 2016, she introduced a bill criminalizing the improper prescribing of certain drugs,[31] which died in committee.[32] In 2019, she supported a bill to create supervised injection sites to prevent drug overdoses.[33]
During the 2016 legislative session, Lewis Young introduced a "right to try" bill that would allow terminally ill patients to try medication approved by the Food and Drug Administration but not available to the general public.[34] The bill was reintroduced in 2017, during which it passed and became law.[35]
During the 2018 legislative session, Lewis Young introduced a bill to ask the federal government to divert money to Maryland used to offset the cost of high-risk patients on the Affordable Care Act's insurance pool, instead using it under a new "reinsurance program" under the Maryland Health Benefit Exchange. The bill passed and became law with Governor Hogan's signature,[36] and the plan was approved by federal regulators in August 2018.[37]
In 2019, Lewis Young introduced a bill to establish a Patients' Bill of Rights.[38] The bill passed and was signed into law by Governor Hogan.[39]
In March 2019, Lewis Young voted for the End-of-Life Option Act, which would have provided palliative care to terminally ill adults.[40]
During the 2022 legislative session, Lewis Young introduced a bill to protect public health officials and hospital workers from threats, citing harassment directed toward health officials following the COVID-19 pandemic.[41]
During the 2017 legislative session, Lewis Young introduced a bill requiring companies to include salary information in job postings and limit employers' ability to ask job applicants about their salary history.[43]
During the 2015 legislative session, Lewis introduced a bill to prevent people convicted of animal abuse from adopting or buying a pet.[49]
In 2017, Lewis Young introduced a bill requiring the Maryland State Police to create a statewide sexual assault tracking system.[50]
In January 2019, Lewis Young was one of nine Maryland lawmakers to add their names to a manifesto signed by 326 state legislators to reaffirm their commitment to protecting abortion rights.[51]
During the 2022 legislative session, Lewis Young introduced legislation to start a pilot program for court-ordered mental health treatment.[52]
Lewis Young met her future husband Ronald N. Young in 2003, when she was working as the Weinberg Center's chairwoman. The couple married in 2006.[1] Together, they have five sons, including Blaine Young, a former Republican member of the Frederick County Board of Commissioners; Brad Young, the president of the Frederick County Council as of 2023; and Brian Young, a former member of the Frederick County Democratic Central Committee.[9]
Electoral history
Frederick Board of Alderman Democratic primary election, 2009[4]
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