It's Valentine's Day: Here's our Maryland political power couples list ...

The late, great New York muckraker, Jack Newfield, coined a phrase that’s very relevant to people who follow Maryland politics closely: The Permanent Government.

Mayors and governors come and go, Newfield argued, but there’s an intractable, unmovable group of power brokers, political fixers and wirepullers, financiers, lobbyists and special interests who really run things. He was talking about New York, of course, but he could just as easily have been talking about Maryland.

And he could just as easily have been talking about Maryland Matters’ annual Valentine’s Day list of political power couples. Governors may come and go, but we’ll always have Hannah and Rob Garagiola. And Lisa Harris Jones and Sean Malone. And all the other card-carrying members of Maryland’s Permanent Government, who happen to be couples.

The best time to assemble a list of power couples in Maryland politics is when a gubernatorial administration changes hands in Annapolis. That’s because there are so many fresh faces in town, and so many romantic partnerships to discover that we weren’t previously aware of.

But after a couple of years, the task gets harder, and the list gets staler — we’re now in year three of Gov. Wes Moore’s (D) administration. Nevertheless, we’ve persisted and, with a little help from our friends, we bring you the Maryland Political Power Couples List of 2025.

As usual, we must start with a few caveats: Our power couples list leans heavily toward those who spend most of their time in Annapolis or have a connection to state government and politics. We try to look beyond the boundaries of State Circle when we can, but we are like Trappist Monks in this world and only roam so far.

Remember also, that while this list is long, it is by no means complete. If we’ve missed anybody, these are sins of omission, not intentional. On to the list!

The leaders of the pack:

Wes Moore and Dawn Flythe Moore: Well, of course. First couples in Maryland always make this list. But while this marriage, like all marriages, is multidimensional, it is also a real political partnership, which gives it added potency. And we suspect Wes Moore, for all his talents and national connections, would not be governor without his wife’s tutelage and contacts in Maryland politics.

Elected officials connected to current (or former) elected officials:

• U.S. Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-4th) and Prince George’s County Council Chair Jolene Ivey (D)
• Del. Lauren Arikan (R-Harford) and Del. Robin L. Grammer Jr. (R-Baltimore County)
• U.S. Rep. Sarah K. Elfreth (D-3rd) and former Baltimore City Councilmember Eric Costello (D), a newly appointed member of the CareFirst Blue Cross Blue Shield Board of Directors
• U.S. Rep.Andy Harris (R-1st) and Nicole Beus Harris, chair of the Maryland Republican Party
• U.S. Rep. April McClain Delaney (D-6th) and her husband and predecessor once removed, John Delaney, who remains a top adviser and regional business leader
• State Sen. Ron Watson (D-Prince George’s) and Prince George’s County Councilmember Ingrid Watson (D)
• State Sen. Jack Bailey (R-St. Mary’s) and Karin Bailey, member of the St. Mary’s County Board of Education, president of the Maryland Association of Boards of Education, and chair of the St. Mary’s County Property Tax Assessment Board
• Del. Jay Jacobs (R-Upper Shore) and former Rock Hall Mayor Dawn Jacobs
• Frederick City Alderwoman Katie Nash, who’s also a registered Annapolis lobbyist, and Josh Bokee, a former alderman and founder of the nonprofit Connect for Broadband. The two have just jointly launched Spires and Light Consulting

Here are more statewide elected officials and their powerful spouses:

• Aruna Miller, the lieutenant governor, and David Miller, the state’s second gentleman. They are civil engineers and he remains her top adviser and political enforcer
• Attorney General Anthony Brown and Karmen Walker Brown, associate vice president of Government Relations for Adventist HealthCare

After decades of observing Maryland politics, we’ve long been convinced that State House lobbyists are incredibly powerful. Many lawmakers are in bed with them — but some lawmakers literally are. The latter category includes:

• House Appropriations Committee Chair Ben Barnes (D-Prince George’s and Anne Arundel) and Caitlin McDonough, an attorney and lobbyist with the firm Harris Jones & Malone
• Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee Chair William C. Smith Jr. (D-Montgomery) and lawyer/lobbyist Camille Fesche
• House Minority Leader Jason C. Buckel (R-Allegany) and Cailey Locklair, president of the Maryland Retailers Alliance, Maryland Chain Drug Store Association and Maryland Food Industry Council
• Senate Budget and Taxation Committee Chair Guy Guzzone (D-Howard) and Susan Lawrence, vice chancellor for government relations at the University System of Maryland

More lobbyists — did we mention that they’re the true powerhouses in this town? — and the powerful people who love them come next. Some lobbyists intermarry. Here are a few, in alphabetical order:

• Erin Appel, vice president of external affairs at UnitedHealth Group, and Travis Martz, general counsel to the Maryland Auto Dealers Association and a registered lobbyist
• Joe Bryce of the firm Manis Canning & Associates and a member of the Maryland Stadium Authority board, and Kristen Jones Bryce, senior vice president and chief external affairs officer of the University of Maryland Medical System
• Erin Favazza, director of state government affairs at University of Maryland Global Campus, and John Favazza of the lobbying firm Manis Canning & Associates
• Hannah Garagiola and Rob Garagiola, partners in life and the leaders of Compass Advocacy, which Hannah Garagiola heads
• Lisa Harris Jones and Sean Malone, partners in life and the names behind the Baltimore-Annapolis firm Harris Jones & Malone
• Maryland Chamber of Commerce President Mary Kane and John Kane, former state GOP chair who had been lobbying with his own firm, Aton Strategies LLC — and is now branching out into other ventures

Here are more lobbyists and their powerful mates:

• Gerard Evans, the uber lobbyist, and Kathleen Evans, a member of the state Workers’ Compensation Commission
• John Fiastro, a State House lobbyist specializing in energy issues, and Julianne Fiastro, senior adviser, Maryland Lottery and Gaming
• Aaron Greenfield, lawyer and State House lobbyist, and Adrea Turner, chief of staff to the Washington, D.C., deputy mayor for planning and economic development — yes, a position that has more than a little relevance to Maryland
• Delora Sanchez Ifekauche, a principal at Cornerstone Government Affairs and director of the firm’s Annapolis office, and Arinze Ifekauche, executive deputy director of communications and legislative affairs at the Governor’s Office of Crime Prevention, Youth, and Victims’ Services
• Pam Kasemeyer of the firm Schwartz, Metz, Wise & Kauffman, and her husband Ed Kasemeyer, who still wears several hats on state boards and commissions even though he’s gone from the state Senate
• Leonard Lucchi, a lawyer and lobbyist with O’Malley, Miles, Nylen & Gilmore, and Brenda Lucchi, director of Italian-American Democrats
• Maggie McIntosh, the former House Appropriations chair and now a lobbyist at Cornerstone Government Affairs, and Diane Stollenwerk, a health policy expert and government consultant
• Isaac Meyer, senior manager at EDP Renewables North America, where he handles government relations, and Ashley Meyer, grants coordinator for the Baltimore County government
• J.R. Reith, an Annapolis lobbyist, and Dee Anna Sobczak, senior vice president and general manager, Chesapeake Region for ThinkBig Networks, a rural broadband organization
• Samantha Zwerling, managing director of political and legislative affairs at the Maryland State Education Association and Maryland Natural Resources Secretary Josh Kurtz

More elected officials and their powerful SO’s:

• Howard County Executive Calvin Ball (D) and Shani Ball, operations manager at the University of Maryland Medical System
• Jessica Feldmark (D-Howard) and Joshua Feldmark, a senior vice president for CI Renewables, a renewable energy company with a major presence in the Mid-Atlantic.
• Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) and Lea Ferguson, chief operating officer at the Baltimore Civic Fund
• Wicomico County Councilmember Josh Hastings (D), who is also executive director of Forever Maryland, a land conservation group, and Alyssa Hastings, Eastern Shore director for U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D)
• Montgomery County Councilmember Will Jawando (D) and Michele Lawrence Jawando, senior vice president of the Omidyar Network
• Del. Anne Kaiser (D-Montgomery) and Nancy Lineman, associate general counsel at WSSC Water and an adjunct faculty member at the University of Maryland School of Public Policy
• Montgomery County Councilmember Dawn Luedtke (D) and Eric Luedtke, senior policy adviser to Moore
• U.S. Rep. Kweisi Mfume (D-7th) and Tiffany McMillan Mfume, associate vice provost for student success and retention initiatives at Johns Hopkins University
• U.S. Rep.Johnny Olszewski Jr. (D-2nd) and Marisa Olszewski, environmental policy manager for the Maryland League of Conservation Voters
• Baltimore City Councilmember Phylicia Porter (D) and Saif Ratul, a deputy legislative officer in the Moore administration
• Edmonston Town Councilmember Kony Serrano Portillo and Joe Bowen, director of communications for Baltimore City Council President Zeke Cohen (D)
• Sen. James Rosapepe (D-Prince George’s and Anne Arundel) and Sheilah Kast, host of WYPR’s “On the Record”
• Del. Emily Shetty (D-Montgomery) and Ash Shetty, chief procurement officer for the Montgomery County government

Top Moore administration officials also have powerful partners. These include:

• Helene Grady, secretary at the Department of Management and Budget, and Matthew Gallagher, head of the Goldseker Foundation in Baltimore
• Fagan Harris, Moore’s chief of staff, and Meryam Bouadjemi, a documentary filmmaker who is also a senior adviser to the governor and chair of the Maryland Entertainment Council
• Appointments Secretary Tisha Edwards and Democratic operative Lamont Riley
• Jeremy Baker, Moore’s chief legislative officer, and Lindsey Reynolds, a senior partner at GQR, a national Democratic polling firm
• Dewon Lawrence, a senior adviser at the Maryland Department of the Environment, and Candace Dodson-Reed, chief of staff at the Maryland Economic Development Corp.
• Kristin Riggin Fleckenstein, the deputy secretary at the Maryland Department of Planning, and Tom Fleckenstein, a politically wired Anne Arundel County lawyer
• Megan Outten, policy manager, Maryland Energy Administration, and Jared Schablein, chief of staff to Del. Robbyn Lewis (D-Baltimore City) and a Lower Shore progressive activist
• Kevin Anderson, former secretary of Commerce in the Moore administration and now a senior adviser, and Tiffany Anderson, a Prince George’s County Circuit Court judge
• Moore’s press secretary, Carter Elliot IV, and Morgan Smith, senior policy analyst at the Maryland Cannabis Administration

Here are more powerful people in state government agencies not directly connected to the Moore administration, and their powerful partners:

• Vicki Gruber, head of the Department of Legislative Services, and Tom Lewis, development ombudsman for Montgomery County government
• Matt Jackson, chief of staff to Speaker Adrienne A. Jones (D-Baltimore County), and Rachel Sessa, deputy state comptroller for law and oversight
• Kumar Barve, Maryland Public Service commissioner, and Maureen Quinn, chair of the Maryland Workers’ Compensation Commission
• Ross Seidman, senior adviser to Senate President Ferguson, and Jamie Sexton, director of legislative and regulatory policy at the Maryland Insurance Administration
• David Smulski, a senior policy analyst with the Department of Legislative Services, and Robyn Elliott, partner in the lobbying firm Public Policy Partners
• Adam Abadir, deputy comptroller for public engagement, and Marly Cardona Moz, communications director for the Baltimore City Department of Transportation

Judge not, lest ye be judged. Here are some judges with powerful partners:

• Court of Special Appeals Judge Laura Ripken and the one and only Cal Ripken Jr.
• Baltimore County District Court Judge Michael Siri and Michelle Daugherty Siri, executive director of the Maryland Legal Services Corp.
• Prince George’s County Magistrate Anita Turner and Todd Turner, a former Prince George’s County Council member and executive director of the Prince George’s County Office of Ethics & Accountability

And here are several other power couples, from a range of mostly political categories, in alphabetical order:

• Bill Cole, a partner at the politically powerful development firm Margrave Strategies and a member of the Maryland Stadium Authority board, and Michelle Cole, a state administrative law judge
• Jessica Cook, a field representative for U.S. Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D) and Chuck Cook, chief legislative officer for the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development
• Diane Croghan, vice president of community engagement and chief of staff at the University of Maryland Baltimore Washington Medical Center, and Brady Walker, head of government and marketing affairs for Ørsted, the wind energy company
• Dirk Haire, the former state Republican chair, and former Anne Arundel Councilmember Jessica Haire
• Sean Johnson, executive director at the Maryland State Education Association, and Melissa Broome, director of policy for the Baltimore City Schools
• Beth Levine, a partner at KO Public Affairs in Baltimore, and Brian Levine, vice president of government relations at the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce
• Rich Madaleno, the chief administrative officer of Montgomery County, and Mark Hodge, chief operating officer at the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services
• Sonia Mora, Montgomery County assistant chief administrative officer, and Gustavo Torres, executive director of CASA
• Major Riddick, who runs a lobbying and business and consulting firm and a fast-food concessions business at BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport, and Manervia Riddick, a business consultant who serves on the Maryland Stadium Authority board
• Progressive Maryland Executive Director Larry Stafford and former Prince George’s County Board of Education member Shayla Adams-Stafford, now a candidate in a special election for a county council seat
• Maria Harris Tildon, vice president for government, community and economic partnerships at Johns Hopkins University, and Chuck Tildon, vice president of external affairs at the University of Maryland Medical System
• Chris Uhl, director of intergovernmental and external relations for Olszewski, and Andre Cawley, a graphic designer and strategic communications consultant for Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott (D). The two co-own Sweet Spot, the floating gay dance party in Baltimore
• Krish Vignarajah, CEO of the Baltimore-based Global Refuge, the immigrants’ services organization, and Colin O’Mara, president and CEO at the National Wildlife Federation

Who did we miss? Do you have suggestions for improving the franchise? Make it a most-eligible singles list instead? Or a list of frenemies? Let us know. And Happy Valentine’s Day to all who celebrate!