PRINCE FREDERICK — Voters in Maryland House of Delegates District 27C will choose one delegate on Nov. 3. The district covers part of Calvert County. On the ballot are Democrat Jennifer M. Davidson and Republican Mark N. Fisher, the incumbent, according to the Maryland Manual’s general election candidate list.
This guide is meant to help voters compare the two candidates. It draws on the official state record and a candidate questionnaire sent by the Local News Network, a student-staffed newsroom at the University of Maryland’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism that works with Capital News Service. Davidson answered the questionnaire. Fisher did not.
About the questionnaire
The Local News Network sent its questionnaire to all 235 General Assembly candidates in competitive primaries this spring, and 141 responded, according to the guide’s methodology page. Answers were edited only for grammar and style. The District 27C page was published April 14, ahead of the June primary, so the answers below reflect the candidate’s positions at that time.
The guide lists Fisher among the Republican candidates who did not answer the survey. It does not say why, and the absence of answers should not be read as a position on any issue. To give voters comparable information, this guide summarizes Fisher’s public record below.
Jennifer M. Davidson (D)
Davidson is a high school social studies teacher with Anne Arundel County Public Schools and will be 51 on Election Day. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Salisbury University and a master’s degree from Bowie State University, both in history and secondary education, according to her questionnaire answers.
She said she is running because she believes states will have to carry more of the load as the federal government steps back, and that she wants to protect children’s access to quality education, make health care available to everyone and protect the Chesapeake Bay and Maryland’s wildlife. She gave these positions:
- State budget deficit: She favored new revenue, including a higher tax rate on top earners; small tax increases on cigarettes, alcohol, recreational marijuana and vapes; and a higher summer Bay Bridge toll of $10 to $12 aimed at out-of-state beach traffic, with discounted E-ZPass rates for local commuters unchanged.
- Energy costs and data centers: She said she opposes data centers coming to Maryland for now and disagrees with Gov. Wes Moore’s description of them as “lighthouse industries.” She called for studies of environmental, wildlife, noise and vibration impacts and of residential rate increases before any construction, citing effects on watermen and crabbers.
- Housing: She proposed expanding Baltimore’s vacant-home reinvestment approach to other areas, including Calvert County; requirements and tax incentives for builders to add affordable housing; a cap on urban rents; and limits on what she called price gouging by landlords.
- Jobs: She said she supports the DECADE Act and proposed stricter oversight of state agency contracts, smaller local cash-match requirements for state grants and job pipelines linking state universities, employers and agencies.
- Immigration enforcement: She said state and local agencies should not take part in arrests or detentions she described as illegal, and that due process must be upheld in all law enforcement operations.
- Political role model: She named former U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, citing his outreach to audiences who disagree with him.
Mark N. Fisher (R)
Fisher, of Prince Frederick, has served in the House of Delegates since Jan. 12, 2011. He represented District 27B until 2015 and has represented District 27C since then. He serves on the House Economic Matters Committee, according to his Maryland Manual biography and public biographical records. He previously served on the Ways and Means Committee.
Outside the legislature, Fisher is a managing member of Telecom Capital Group LLC, a telecommunications infrastructure company, and founded the Gray’s Field Foundation in Owings. He holds a bachelor’s degree in international affairs and economics from George Washington University.
His record in Annapolis includes:
- Energy: He has been a supporter of nuclear power. In 2019 he sponsored a bill to treat nuclear power as a Tier 1 fuel under the state’s renewable energy standard; it was amended into a study.
- Taxes and labor: He opposed tying the state gas tax to inflation in 2013, minimum wage increases in 2014 and 2019, and paid sick leave in 2016.
- Redistricting: He challenged the state’s 2022 legislative maps in court, arguing his district was gerrymandered. The Supreme Court of Maryland upheld the maps.
- Caucus: He is a founding member of the Maryland Freedom Caucus.
Fisher has won four general elections. He first won in 2010 in District 27B, defeating incumbent Democrat Sue Kullen. He won District 27C in 2014 and 2018, and in 2022 faced only write-in opposition.
How and when to vote
Early voting runs Thursday, Oct. 22, through Thursday, Oct. 29, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. Polls are open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3. Voters who want a mail-in ballot sent by mail or fax must request it by Oct. 27, or by Oct. 30 for email delivery, according to NBC4 Washington.
The Chronicle’s earlier guides cover neighboring District 27B, District 28 and District 29A. Voters who are unsure of their legislative district can look it up through the Maryland State Board of Elections.
Capital News Service provided the questionnaires through the Local News Network’s General Assembly Voter Guide 2026.
Candidates who did not respond to the questionnaire: Mark N. Fisher (R).
