Jessica Feldmark

Feldmark was born on August 1, 1974. She attended Goucher College, where she earned a B.A. degree in sociology and international relations, and American University, where she earned a M.S. degree in organization development.^[2] She moved to Columbia, Maryland in 1998 and was elected to the Wilde Lake Village Board in 2000. She resigned from the board in November 2002 to become a special assistant to Howard County councilman-elect Kenneth Ulman.^[3] Feldmark followed Ulman into the executive's office following his election in 2006, first serving as a senior advisor until 2009, when she became Ulman's chief of staff.^[2]

Following the election of Howard County executive Allan Kittleman in 2014, Feldmark was let go from her position to make room for Kittleman chief of staff Diane Wilson. A few hours after her departure, the Howard County Council announced that Feldmark would serve as the council's administrator, replacing Sheila Tolliver.^[4]

In February 2018, Feldmark filed to run for Maryland House of Delegates.^[5] She came in third place in the Democratic primary election, receiving 21.4 percent of the vote.^[6] Feldmark came in second place in the general election, receiving 21.9 percent of the vote.^[7]

Feldmark was sworn into the Maryland House of Delegates on January 9, 2019. She has been a member of the Ways and Means Committee during her entire tenure, including as the chair of its local revenues subcommittee and revenues subcommittee since 2023. Feldmark is also a member of the Howard County Delegation—serving as its chair from 2020 to 2021 and from 2023 to 2024—the Women Legislators of Maryland, the Maryland Legislative Latino Caucus, the Maryland Legislative Transit Caucus, and the Maryland Legislative Jewish Caucus.^[2]

In January 2020, Feldmark filed to run as a convention delegate for Elizabeth Warren at the 2020 Democratic National Convention.^[8]

On June 10, 2025, Feldmark announced that she would run for Howard County Executive in 2026, seeking to succeed incumbent Calvin Ball III, who is term-limited. She is running on a platform of increasing county funding for education and bringing jobs to the county.^[9]

During the 2020 legislative session, Feldmark introduced a bill that would expand Maryland's public financing program to candidates other than the governor in statewide elections.^[10]

During the 2021 legislative session, Feldmark introduced legislation that would introduce universal ballot marking devices and prevent ballots cast by voters with disabilities from being set apart from ballots cast by voters without disabilities.^[11][12] She also introduced legislation that would codify a temporary policy adopted by the Maryland State Board of Elections during the COVID-19 pandemic that would require local election boards to accept an absentee ballot and reject a provisional ballot if they received both from the same voter.^[13]

During the 2019 legislative session and amid the 2018–2019 United States federal government shutdown, Feldmark introduced a bill that allow essential government employees to receive temporary assistance through the state during future government shutdowns.^[14] The bill passed and was signed into law by Governor Larry Hogan on March 26, 2019.^[15][16]

In July 2020, Feldmark and 12 other state legislators signed onto a letter urging the Baltimore County Board of Education to ban the display of hate symbols, including the Confederate flag and swastikas, in schools across Baltimore County unless it is necessary for educational programming.^[17]

During the 2021 legislative session, Feldmark introduced a bill to alter the state's Job Creation Tax Credit program to require new positions that qualify for the credit to pay a local prevailing wage of 150 percent of the state's minimum wage and provide career advancement opportunities, paid leave, and collective bargaining rights. The bill passed, but was vetoed by Governor Hogan on May 28, 2021;^[18] the legislature voted to override Hogan's veto on the bill during its 2021 legislative session.^[19]