# Sheila Ruth

Sheila Ruth is a Democratic member of the Maryland House for district 44B.

- Party: Democrat
- Seat: Maryland House, district 44B
- Serving since: 2020-01-31
- Current term: MD 2025–26 session
- Open States ID: ocd-person/4357a17f-f87b-4ae0-afe6-5d8ef9b3d7ed

Source: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/4357a17f-f87b-4ae0-afe6-5d8ef9b3d7ed (America’s Political Pulse, Polarization Research Lab), data through 2026-10-27. Data under CC BY 4.0. Cite as: Westwood, Sean J., and Yphtach Lelkes. 2024. America's Political Pulse [data set].

## Headline

Ruth sits at −0.93 on the CSIP scale, more liberal than 86% of State House Democrats.

## What Ruth says (MD 2025–26 session)

100 classified statements: 100 posts on X. Each rate is the share of statements with the label, against the State House Democrats average; rank 1 is the highest rate.

| Label | Ruth | State House Democrats average | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal attacks | 3.0% | 2.5% | 207 of 764 |
| Policy criticism | 21.0% | 10.4% | 113 of 764 |
| Policy discussion | 50.0% | 39.2% | 226 of 764 |
| Bipartisanship | 3.0% | 2.9% | 261 of 764 |
| Credit claiming | 9.0% | 14.4% | 459 of 764 |
| Extreme labels | 0.0% | 1.0% | 543 of 764 |

Most discussed policy areas: Health 32% (State House Democrats 15%); Environmental Protection 28% (State House Democrats 3.4%); Government Operations and Politics 12% (State House Democrats 15%); Housing and Community Development 12% (State House Democrats 6.2%); Labor and Employment 12% (State House Democrats 5.7%).

## Ideology (CSIP)

CSIP score −0.93 (standard error 0.03), from 278 donors and 1,008 roll calls. Negative is left of 0, positive right of it, on one scale for every official. 14% of State House Democrats score lower.

## Votes (MD 2025–26 session)

2,779 roll calls. Attendance 98.8% (Maryland House 94.3%). Party unity 100% (97.0%). 1 votes against the party majority.

Key votes:

- 2026-08-04 · voted yea · On Third Reading (Emerg) · HB 2101 Arbitration Reform for State Employees Act of 2026 - Withdraw and Repeal of Duplicate Proposed Constitutional Amendment · pass · https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB2101/
- 2026-08-04 · voted yea · On Third Reading (Const) · HB 2100 Election Districts - General Assembly and Representatives in Congress · pass · https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB2100/
- 2026-08-03 · voted nay · FLA Del. Grammer /423321/1 · HB 2100 Election Districts - General Assembly and Representatives in Congress · fail · https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB2100/
- 2026-08-03 · voted yea · Motion to Suspend Rules from 1st to 2nd Rdg (Emerg) · HB 2101 Arbitration Reform for State Employees Act of 2026 - Withdraw and Repeal of Duplicate Proposed Constitutional Amendment · pass · https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB2101/
- 2026-08-03 · voted yea · Committee Amendments · HB 2100 Election Districts - General Assembly and Representatives in Congress · pass · https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB2100/
- 2026-08-03 · voted yea · FLA Del. Miller /863422/1 Ruled Out of Order Decision of the Chair · HB 2101 Arbitration Reform for State Employees Act of 2026 - Withdraw and Repeal of Duplicate Proposed Constitutional Amendment · pass · https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB2101/
- 2026-08-03 · voted yea · FLA Del. Schmidt /413029/1 Ruled out of order Decision of the Chair · HB 2100 Election Districts - General Assembly and Representatives in Congress · pass · https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB2100/
- 2026-08-03 · voted nay · FLA Del. Buckel /403926/1 · HB 2100 Election Districts - General Assembly and Representatives in Congress · fail · https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB2100/
- 2026-08-03 · voted nay · FLA Del. Szeliga /633228/1 · HB 2100 Election Districts - General Assembly and Representatives in Congress · fail · https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB2100/
- 2026-08-03 · voted nay · FLA Del. Long, R. /183623/1 · HB 2100 Election Districts - General Assembly and Representatives in Congress · fail · https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB2100/

## Legislation (MD 2025–26 session)

Sponsored 226 bills: 226 reached committee, 106 passed one chamber, 61 passed both, 57 became law. Cosponsored 0. 46.9% of sponsored bills got out of committee (Maryland House 49.4%; rank 86 of 140).

Recent sponsored bills:

- HB 1378: Corporations and Associations - Limitations on Election and Ballot Issue Activities (Maryland Corporate Power Reset Act) (in committee, 2026-02-13) https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB1378/
- HB 1385: Health Insurance - Use of Artificial Intelligence - Human Evaluation (in committee, 2026-02-13) https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB1385/
- HB 1411: Data Center Planning and Transparency Act (in committee, 2026-02-13) https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB1411/
- HB 1492: Collective Bargaining - Public Employees - Revocation of Certification and School and Library Employees' Right to Strike (in committee, 2026-03-11) https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB1492/
- HB 1465: Environment - Stream and Floodplain Restoration Projects - Requirements and Limitations (in committee, 2026-02-13) https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB1465/
- HB 1359: Police Pursuits of Fleeing Suspects - Standards (Dimeka Thornton Act) (in committee, 2026-02-16) https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB1359/
- HB 1575: Correctional Services and Public Safety - Immigration Enforcement - Prohibitions (Community Trust Act) (in committee, 2026-02-16) https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB1575/
- HB 1405: Election Law - Campaign Finance Activities - Candidates for State Office (in committee, 2026-02-13) https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB1405/
- HB 1360: Maryland Public Ethics Law - Regulated Lobbyists - Reporting Requirements (in committee, 2026-02-19) https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB1360/
- HB 1367: Commission on Re-Imagining Health Care in Maryland (became law, 2026-04-28) https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB1367/

## Campaign money (2026 cycle)

Itemized receipts $21.4K (State House Democrats median $40.4K). 98% of itemized individual money came from in state. Aggregates only; no individual donors.

## Recent statements

Newest first. Posts on X are listed by date and link only.

- 2026-10-21 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/SheilaRuthD44B SheilaRuth/status/2112741010342339004
- 2026-09-17 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/SheilaRuthD44B SheilaRuth/status/2100660742391267553
- 2026-08-14 · Post on X · https://x.com/SheilaRuthD44B SheilaRuth/status/2088397466886455701
- 2026-07-23 · Post on X · https://x.com/SheilaRuthD44B SheilaRuth/status/2080322604242538752
- 2026-07-07 · Post on X · https://x.com/SheilaRuthD44B SheilaRuth/status/2074528918602670183
- 2026-07-07 · Post on X · https://x.com/SheilaRuthD44B SheilaRuth/status/2074531801293312284
- 2026-07-07 · Post on X · https://x.com/SheilaRuthD44B SheilaRuth/status/2074532029991903243
- 2026-06-25 · Post on X · https://x.com/SheilaRuthD44B SheilaRuth/status/2070169782347857946
- 2026-06-25 · Post on X · https://x.com/SheilaRuthD44B SheilaRuth/status/2070170666192511053
- 2026-06-25 · Post on X · https://x.com/SheilaRuthD44B SheilaRuth/status/2070171584552214780

## Links

- Official site: https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Members/Details/ruth01
- Campaign site: https://www.sheilaruth.com/
- X: https://x.com/SheilaRuthD44B
- X: https://x.com/SheilaRuth
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SheilaRuthD44B/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/delsheilaruth/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruthsheila/

Full profile, with every chart and the methods: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/4357a17f-f87b-4ae0-afe6-5d8ef9b3d7ed