Tom Jarboe, a former St. Mary’s County Commissioner and the Republican nominee for Commissioner President in this November’s election, died this week at Georgetown University Hospital following complications from end-stage liver disease. He was 57.
His wife, Shannon, announced his death in a statement shared with family and friends, describing Jarboe as her best friend of 40 years and the love of her life. She said he passed peacefully, surrounded by family, and that he had always considered being a husband and father his greatest source of joy. The couple raised three sons, Nick, Christian and Luke, in St. Mary’s City.
Jarboe was born July 15, 1969, at St. Mary’s Hospital in Leonardtown, into a family that had lived in St. Mary’s County for generations. He attended Little Flower School in Great Mills before graduating from St. Mary’s Ryken High School in 1987. He went on to serve in the U.S. Coast Guard as a navigator and shipboard intelligence officer, later earning a bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland and a master’s degree in international commerce from the same school in 2002.
After his military service, Jarboe built a career founding and leading defense contracting and international trade businesses based in St. Mary’s County, including Technology Security Associates, which he grew to roughly $12 million in annual revenue before later leading AIRTEC Inc., Kieyos LLC and, most recently, J4 Aviation, an aviation company he started with his three sons at St. Mary’s County Regional Airport. He was named the St. Mary’s County Chamber of Commerce Businessperson of the Year in 2013 and later served as the chamber’s board chairman.
Jarboe entered public office in 2014, winning election as the District 1 County Commissioner and serving through 2018, a term during which he also served as vice president of the Board of County Commissioners and as a member of the county’s Board of Health. Beyond elected office, he founded Leadership Southern Maryland in 2009 and served as chair of its leadership council for years afterward, and he volunteered as an EMT with Companies 6 and 49 and as a rescue lieutenant with the Second District Volunteer Fire Department. He also served as a counselor for the Wounded Warrior Initiative at Fort Meade, mentoring military veterans navigating civilian and business life.
Jarboe returned to elected politics in 2025, announcing a campaign for County Commissioner President to succeed term-limited President Randy Guy. He won the Republican primary in June 2026 with roughly 44 percent of the vote in a three-way field, setting up a general election matchup against Democrat AnnMarie Abell in November. His campaign centered on supporting local businesses, fiscal discipline and building consensus among commissioners representing the county’s different districts.
Jarboe’s death leaves a vacancy on the Republican ticket that will need to be resolved before the November general election. Under Maryland election law, when a nominated candidate dies after a primary election, the vacancy is filled by a vote of the county’s Republican Central Committee, which by law must file a certificate designating a new nominee with the State Board of Elections by roughly 81 days before the general election. St. Mary’s County Republican Party officials have not yet announced how or when that process will move forward.
The family said arrangements and details of a memorial service will be announced at a later date, and asked for privacy as they grieve. Colleagues and community members who knew Jarboe through his business ventures, his time on the Board of County Commissioners and his volunteer work with the county’s fire and rescue services and the Chamber of Commerce are expected to share tributes in the coming days.
