ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Governor Wes Moore announced Monday the appointment of Delegate Kevin M. Harris to the Maryland State Senate seat for District 27, representing Calvert, Charles, and Prince George’s counties. Harris fills the vacancy created when former Senator Michael A. Jackson was named acting superintendent of the Maryland Department of State Police in October.
“Kevin M. Harris is a decorated veteran and dedicated public servant who has represented Charles and Prince George’s counties with distinction,” Moore said in a statement. “His experience in the House of Delegates, combined with his service in uniform, demonstrates a deep commitment to our state and our country. I look forward to working with him in this new role in the Senate.”
Harris, a Democrat, has represented District 27A in the House of Delegates since January 2023. The district covers portions of Prince George’s and Charles counties. During his three sessions in the House, he has served on the Appropriations Committee, as vice chair of the Education and Economic Development Subcommittee within Appropriations, and as chair of the bipartisan Joint Committee on Children, Youth, and Families.
A resident of District 27A for 16 years, Harris currently works as a program manager for Leidos, LLC, supporting the Defense Information Systems Agency.
Harris enlisted in the United States Navy in 1999. He deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, earning the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal. Later selected for the White House Communications Agency, he served five years in that elite unit and received the 2007 All Star Award, an honor given to the top 10 percent of personnel.
The appointment returns Harris to the General Assembly but elevates him to the 47-member Senate for the remainder of the term that ends in January 2027. District 27 includes all of Calvert County, southern Charles County, and a portion of central and southern Prince George’s County, stretching from Chesapeake Beach and Prince Frederick in the east to Brandywine and Accokeek near the Capital Beltway.
Under the Maryland Constitution, when a Senate vacancy occurs in a district that crosses county lines, the governor appoints a member of the same political party recommended by the state central committee of the counties involved. The Prince George’s, Charles, and Calvert County Democratic Central Committees jointly forwarded Harris’s name to the governor.
Harris is active in several community and veterans organizations, including the Fort Washington alumni chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc., the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and Greater Saint John Church in Upper Marlboro.
He holds a bachelor’s degree from Washington Bible College and a master’s degree from Walden University.
The former senator, Michael A. Jackson, resigned the seat October 21 after Governor Moore appointed him acting superintendent of the Maryland State Police. Jackson, also a former Prince George’s County police officer and two-term sheriff, had represented District 27 in the Senate since 2021.
Harris will be sworn in during the upcoming 2026 legislative session that begins January 8 in Annapolis. No special election is required because the vacancy occurred more than 30 days before the 2026 primary filing deadline.