# Chris West

Chris West is a Republican member of the Maryland Senate for district 42.

- Party: Republican
- Seat: Maryland Senate, district 42
- Serving since: 2019-01-09
- Current term: MD 2025–26 session
- Open States ID: ocd-person/99ff7e2c-87d6-49d5-b112-3807852511bc

Source: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/99ff7e2c-87d6-49d5-b112-3807852511bc (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

West voted against the majority of Maryland Senate Republicans 203 times; party unity 58%, the lowest of 46 in the Maryland Senate (average 94.9%).

## Ideology (CSIP)

CSIP score −0.01 (standard error 0.01), from 398 donors and 1,180 roll calls. Negative is left of 0, positive right of it, on one scale for every official. 7.2% of State Senate Republicans score lower.

## Votes (MD 2025–26 session)

2,121 roll calls. Attendance 96.9% (Maryland Senate 93.6%). Party unity 58% (94.9%). 203 votes against the party majority.

Key votes:

- 2026-08-04 · voted nay · Suspended Rule 24 to allow two readings of a bill in the same day · HB 2100 Election Districts - General Assembly and Representatives in Congress · pass · https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB2100/
- 2026-08-04 · voted yea · Floor Amendment Salling /763427/1 · HB 2100 Election Districts - General Assembly and Representatives in Congress · fail · https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB2100/
- 2026-08-04 · voted yea · Floor Amendment West /943226/1 · HB 2100 Election Districts - General Assembly and Representatives in Congress · fail · https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB2100/
- 2026-08-04 · voted nay · Motion to limit debate · HB 2100 Election Districts - General Assembly and Representatives in Congress · pass · https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB2100/
- 2026-08-04 · voted yea · Floor Amendment Ready /393120/1 · HB 2100 Election Districts - General Assembly and Representatives in Congress · fail · https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB2100/
- 2026-08-04 · voted yea · Floor Amendment Gallion /473622/1 · HB 2100 Election Districts - General Assembly and Representatives in Congress · fail · https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB2100/
- 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 nay · Suspended Rule 24 to allow two readings of a bill in the same day · 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 nay · Bill is on Third Reading for Final Passage. · HB 2100 Election Districts - General Assembly and Representatives in Congress · pass · https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB2100/
- 2026-08-04 · voted yea · Floor Amendment Simonaire /713626/1 · HB 2100 Election Districts - General Assembly and Representatives in Congress · fail · https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB2100/

## Legislation (MD 2025–26 session)

Sponsored 144 bills: 144 reached committee, 77 passed one chamber, 52 passed both, 51 became law. Cosponsored 0. 53.5% of sponsored bills got out of committee (Maryland Senate 60.0%; rank 32 of 47).

Recent sponsored bills:

- SB 2102: Legislative and Congressional Redistricting and Legislative and Congressional Redistricting and Apportionment Commission (Fair Districts for Maryland Act) (in committee, 2026-08-03) https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/SB2102/
- SB 1006: Maryland State Flag Protection Act (in committee, 2026-03-09) https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/SB1006/
- SB 991: Public Information Act - Inspectors General - Access of Public Records (in committee, 2026-02-19) https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/SB991/
- SB 750: Local Government - Trap-Neuter-Return Policies for Community Cats - Requirements and Restrictions (Ash's Law) (in committee, 2026-02-10) https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/SB750/
- SB 840: Maryland Stadium Authority - Electricity Generating Facilities - Site Planning (in committee, 2026-02-16) https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/SB840/
- SB 651: Real Property – Transfer–on–Death Deed – Establishment (became law, 2026-05-26) https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/SB651/
- SB 896: Vehicle Laws - Registration Fees - Alterations (in committee, 2026-02-12) https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/SB896/
- SB 652: Maryland Illegal Online Gambling Enforcement Act (in committee, 2026-02-11) https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/SB652/
- SB 858: Department of Budget and Management - Audit and Finance Compliance Unit - Establishment (became law, 2026-05-12) https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/SB858/
- SB 689: Task Force on the Creation of a Division of Returning Citizens and Expanded Reentry Services - Requirement Alterations and Extension of Report Deadline (Bri's… (passed one chamber, 2026-03-26) https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/SB689/

## Campaign money (2026 cycle)

Itemized receipts $3,125 (State Senate Republicans median $46.2K). 100% of itemized individual money came from in state. Aggregates only; no individual donors.

## Links

- Official site: https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Members/Details/west02
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-west-6b68a56/

Full profile, with every chart and the methods: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/99ff7e2c-87d6-49d5-b112-3807852511bc