Maryland Senate Minority Leader J.B. Jennings and Senate Minority Whip Steve Hershey Jr. recently announced they will not seek reelection to their caucus seats in the 
General Assembly. From a recently issued statement,
“After six years of serving this Caucus as its Leader and Whip, we are incredibly proud of the work we have done to support our party, our members, our constituents and the people of Maryland,” Jennings and Hershey said in a joint statement. “We have accomplished a great deal, and we believe now is the time to allow a new team to build on this success and lead our caucus into the 2022 election season.”
Senator Jennings, who represents District 7 in parts of Baltimore and Harford counties, and Senator Hershey, who represents District 36 in Caroline, Cecil, Kent and QueenAnne’s counties, are the longest-serving leaders in the caucus’s history.
The Senate Republican Caucus meets this Saturday to elect new leadership. It is speculated that Anne Arundel County Sen. Bryan F. Simonaire will be elected minority leader and Frederick County Sen. Michael R. Hough will be elected as whip. From a Maryland Matters article,
Simonaire and Hough would represent a perceptible shift to the right compared to Jennings and Hershey ― and their likely ascension represents an attempt by conservatives to flex their muscle within the 15-member caucus and in the Senate chamber.
Simonaire is a vocal opponent of abortion rights and does not shy away from debates over social issues on the Senate floor, even when defeat is inevitable. Hough has been an influential conservative on the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee who has helped steer legislation on criminal justice and has led successful Republican charges to amend legislation on the Senate floor. In his day job, Hough works as chief of staff to U.S. Rep. Alex Mooney (R-W.Va.) on Capitol Hill.
