# Joanne Benson

Joanne Benson is a Democratic member of the Maryland Senate for district 24.

- Party: Democrat
- Seat: Maryland Senate, district 24
- Serving since: 2011-01-12
- Current term: MD 2025–26 session
- Open States ID: ocd-person/a5a952f8-f001-4619-9056-103a1f4e4d8e

Source: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/a5a952f8-f001-4619-9056-103a1f4e4d8e (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

Benson missed 38% of 2,121 roll calls, the lowest attendance of 46 in the Maryland Senate (average 93.6%).

## Ideology (CSIP)

CSIP score −0.70 (standard error 0.03), from 358 donors and 1,046 roll calls. Negative is left of 0, positive right of it, on one scale for every official. 42% of State Senate Democrats score lower.

## Votes (MD 2025–26 session)

2,121 roll calls. Attendance 62% (Maryland Senate 93.6%). Party unity 99.0% (94.9%). 6 votes against the party majority.

Key votes:

- 2026-08-04 · voted yea · 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 nay · 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 nay · 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 yea · 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 nay · 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 nay · 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 yea · 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 yea · 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 nay · 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 52 bills: 52 reached committee, 18 passed one chamber, 10 passed both, 10 became law. Cosponsored 0. 34.6% of sponsored bills got out of committee (Maryland Senate 60.0%; rank 46 of 47).

Recent sponsored bills:

- SB 988: Judicial Facilities - Stops, Detentions, and Arrests - Limitations (in committee, 2026-03-06) https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/SB988/
- SB 962: January 6th Insurrectionists - Prohibition on Service in Certain Government Roles (in committee, 2026-03-09) https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/SB962/
- SB 860: Department of Aging – Aging Resilience Fund – Establishment (became law, 2026-04-14) https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/SB860/
- SB 737: Juvenile Law - Probation and Treatment Services - Required Disposition (Parental Accountability Act) (in committee, 2026-03-09) https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/SB737/
- SB 928: County Boards of Education - Student Electronic Communication Device Use Policy - Establishment (Maryland Phone-Free Schools Act) (passed one chamber, 2026-03-23) https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/SB928/
- SB 736: Criminal Law - Obscene Matter - Visual Representation of Child (in committee, 2026-02-12) https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/SB736/
- SB 402: Residential Child Care Programs - Education of Children and Training of Child and Youth Care Practitioners (became law, 2026-05-26) https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/SB402/
- SB 382: Retire in Maryland Tax Relief Act (in committee, 2026-02-03) https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/SB382/
- SB 103: Public Middle, High, and Charter Schools - Start Time for Instruction (in committee, 2026-01-16) https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/SB103/
- SB 124: Food, Drugs, and Cosmetics - Gene Structure- and Function-Modifying Products - Labeling (in committee, 2026-02-09) https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/SB124/

## Campaign money (2026 cycle)

Itemized receipts $4,631 (State Senate Democrats median $55.5K). 100% of itemized individual money came from in state. Aggregates only; no individual donors.

## Links

- Official site: https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Members/Details/benson
- Campaign site: https://www.joannecbenson.com/
- X: https://x.com/bensonteam24
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/senatorjoannecbenson
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joannecbenson/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joanne-benson-22775340/

Full profile, with every chart and the methods: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/a5a952f8-f001-4619-9056-103a1f4e4d8e