Del. Ryan Nawrocki (R-Baltimore County). (File photo Bryan P. Sears/Maryland Matters)
For a few short minutes, it appeared that there might be a contentious intraparty challenge for a state Senate seat.
Del. Ryan Nawrocki (R-Baltimore County), elected in 2022, posted ever so briefly on social media that he was holding a May 19 fundraiser for the Senate — the same seat currently held by Sen. J.B Jennings (R-Baltimore and Harford counties), who was elected to his fourth Senate term in 2022 and previously served eight years in the House of Delegates.
“I have no intention of running for Senate,” Nawrocki said in a phone interview Monday. “It just kind of, there was some fat-finger stuff that happened there, and I posted something, and I immediately changed it.”
But not before the texts and phone calls to Nawrocki, Jennings and reporters started flying.
“I’ve seen the screenshot, you know, 17 times. You probably got it from the same people who sent it to me,” Nawrocki said. “First of all … if I’m running for Senate, I’m not announcing it in a throwaway line seven lines deep in a post on Facebook.”
The post pitched an event in Middle River and “an evening you won’t want to miss — great local brews, fantastic food and an important cause: supporting our campaign for Maryland State Senate.”
Sen. J.B. Jennings said he intends on running for a fifth term in the Senate in 2026. (File photo Bryan P. Sears/Maryland Matters)
The new post, as of 9:23 a.m., replaced the Senate announcement with “supporting our campaign for Maryland!”
Jennings, for his part, said he was surprised by the post and the calls and texts he got alerting him to a potential challenge.
“This kind of caught me off-guard this morning on what he wrote in his Facebook post. I have not talked to him,” Jennings said. “I thought we were all going to run together.”
The post touched off chatter about a larger play by the newly recognized, hard-right Freedom Caucus in the Maryland House.
Nawrocki is one of nine members of the caucus. Currently, there are no members in the Senate. Some have speculated that the caucus might seek to primary an incumbent senator. At events this session, members of the caucus have talked openly, if not vaguely, about RINO — Republican in Name Only — lawmakers.
Jennings’ district, a safe one for Republicans, seems a likely choice for a primary challenge. All four state lawmakers are Republicans. Dels. Lauren Arikan and Kathy Szeliga are also members of the Freedom Caucus.
Arikan, a second-term Republican, wrote in a text message that she was not planning a run for Jennings’ seat. She said she was “not aware of any changes” in the district.
Del, Kathy Szeliga (R-Baltimore County) speaks at a Freedom Caucus anti-tax rally during the 2025 legislative session. (File photo Bryan P. Sears/Maryland Matters)
Szeliga, in her fourth term in the House, also said she is not interested in a run for Senate.
“I am very focused on holding Democrats accountable for $1.66 billion in taxes. Not running against Jennings,” Szeliga said in a text, adding that she is “very concened about Democrats raising taxes again in October,” in a potential special session.
Nawrocki, for his part, repeated that he would not run against Jennings “not even in six months.”
“I’m not running for Senate,” Nawrocki said. “Unless you’re calling to tell me that J.B. is running for governor or something like that, and then maybe I would consider it. But no, I’m not running against J.B.”
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