# Ben Kramer

Ben Kramer is a Democratic member of the Maryland Senate for district 19.

- Party: Democrat
- Seat: Maryland Senate, district 19
- Serving since: 2019-01-09
- Current term: MD 2025–26 session
- Open States ID: ocd-person/f43bc1a5-01e8-416f-86ca-bd857bf6ed80

Source: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/f43bc1a5-01e8-416f-86ca-bd857bf6ed80 (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

100% of Kramer’s itemized money in the 2026 cycle came from Maryland, in the top quarter of State Senate Democrats.

## Ideology (CSIP)

CSIP score −0.74 (standard error 0.03), from 181 donors and 1,186 roll calls. Negative is left of 0, positive right of it, on one scale for every official. 35% of State Senate Democrats score lower.

## Votes (MD 2025–26 session)

2,121 roll calls. Attendance 98.7% (Maryland Senate 93.6%). Party unity 99.5% (94.9%). 9 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 72 bills: 72 reached committee, 44 passed one chamber, 32 passed both, 32 became law. Cosponsored 0. 61.1% of sponsored bills got out of committee (Maryland Senate 60.0%; rank 25 of 47).

Recent sponsored bills:

- 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 764: Education - Minimum Wage for Education Support Professionals - Report on Estimated Cost (passed one chamber, 2026-03-23) https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/SB764/
- 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 739: Climate Change, Homeowner's Insurance, and Emergency Management - Study (became law, 2026-05-26) https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/SB739/
- SB 882: Income Tax - Credit for Student Loan Debt of Educators Working in Public Schools (in committee, 2026-02-11) https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/SB882/
- SB 860: Department of Aging – Aging Resilience Fund – Establishment (became law, 2026-04-14) https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/SB860/
- SB 907: Public Health - Female Genital Mutilation (became law, 2026-04-14) https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/SB907/
- SB 662: Financial Institutions - Payment Stablecoin Services - Establishment and Regulation (Maryland Stablecoin Act) (became law, 2026-05-12) https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/SB662/
- 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 753: Fiduciary Institutions - Exploitation of Seniors and Vulnerable Adults - Protections and Required Referral (Vulnerable Adult Banking Protection Act) (became law, 2026-05-12) https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/SB753/

## Campaign money (2026 cycle)

Itemized receipts $4,131 (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/kramer02
- Campaign site: http://www.benkramer.org/

Full profile, with every chart and the methods: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/f43bc1a5-01e8-416f-86ca-bd857bf6ed80