With the recent departure of members of the General Assembly, three new members prepare to take their seats. One, Delegate Kent Robinson (District 25 – Prince George’s County), was sworn in the end of May to replace Delegate Darryl Barnes, who joined a lobbying firm. Another, Malcolm Ruff (District 41 – Baltimore City), was recently appointed by Governor Moore but has not yet been sworn in. Ruff is replacing Delegate Tony Bridges who recently joined the Moore Administration as Assistant Secretary of Transportation. And the third, Gaithersburg City Council Member Ryan Spiegel, has been selected by the District 17 Democratic Central Committee and is being considered by Governor Moore.
Del. Kent Roberson (D-Prince George’s) took the oath of office on the House dais that overlooks the chamber where in 2002 he was one of a number of high school students selected to work on the floor, making coffee and filling binders with bills and amendments.
“From there, the love of being here, never went away to serve here,” said Roberson. “Fast forward: In 2013, the opportunity came where I took a job to work in the mailroom because I wanted to be as close to this position as possible, making $5.50 an hour, which is abysmal. But that’s how much I wanted to be here. And so with two children, and a wife, struggling to make ends meet because they poured into my desire to be here, we sacrifice as a team.”
Now, 10 years later, Roberson is a member of the House of Delegates. As such, he will be paid more than $52,000 in his first full year as a state lawmaker with annual increases bringing the salary to more than $56,000 in the fourth year of the term.
In his current day job, Roberson is a senior manager for government relations at the Corn Refiners Association. He is also an ordained minister.
Malcolm Ruff is a civil rights attorney with the Baltimore law firm of Murphy, Falcon & Murphy. 
He has worked alongside Murphy in several high-profile police abuse cases, including representing the family of William Green, who was shot to death by a Prince George’s County Police corporal while in police custody. Ruff won $20 million settlement for Green’s mother and his two adult children, one of the largest ever for a police brutality case in the U.S.
Ruff also took the lead on a lawsuit that the families of several Black teenagers filed against Ocean City police in 2021, accusing the police of tasing the youths while they were being arrested for vaping on the resort town’s boardwalk.
During his interview with the central committee earlier this month, Ruff emphasized the time he’s spent in Annapolis advocating for criminal justice bills in addition to his legal work, and said he has dreamed of being a legislator for most of his life. Ruff has also worked with Baltimore-based community groups, including Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle, The Center for Urban Families, The Job Opportunities Task Force, Out for Justice, and the NAACP Office of the General Counsel.
Council Member Spiegel has served on the Gaithersburg City Council since 2007 and was Maryland Municipal League President for 2019-2020.
This was his second try for a House seat in District 17, which takes in Rockville and Gaithersburg in the heart of Montgomery County. He had run unsuccessfully in the 2006 Democratic primary, when he was 28 years old, finishing fourth.
Since then, Spiegel has spent 16 years on the Gaithersburg City Council and served a stint as president of the Maryland Municipal League, which put him regularly in Annapolis during General Assembly sessions. He had the longest tenure in elective office of any of the applicants for the District 17 seat — and briefly considered running for state attorney general in 2022 when the incumbent, Brian Frosh (D), announced plans to retire.
During his tenure on the council in Gaithersburg, which with 69,000 residents is Maryland’s third-biggest city, Spiegel has touted Smart Growth economic development projects and environmental protection plans as well as Racial Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion policies.
