Andrew Duck
DemocraticQ1 Maryland residents are facing sharply rising electricity bills driven by a combination of power plant retirements, surging market prices, and rapidly growing demand (including from the proliferation of data centers across the region). If elected, what specific steps will you take to address the causes of high energy costs for Maryland residents and businesses, including data centers?
“I oppose the expansion of the Data Center Complex in Frederick County. I support a moratorium on new data centers until we can identify how we will power them and provide water for them. I support the goal of moving Maryland to 100% clean power with no carbon pollution by a date certain (one goal is 2035, the legislature says 2045). I want to close the electricity deficit which currently causes us to purchase 40% of our electricity from the PMJ grid. I will work with the Maryland Energy Administration to make a plan to meet those goals, including supporting offshore wind power, rooftop and balcony solar, geothermal for government buildings, improved conservation efforts, and any other effort which demonstrates effective results.”
Q2 Since early 2025, Maryland has lost nearly 25,000 federal jobs (more than any other state) as funding cuts to federal agencies including the NIH, NASA, and NIST take effect. How would you approach strengthening Maryland’s economy, and what steps would you take to ensure that workers across different roles and education levels benefit from those efforts?
“America should restore federal investments in research because those science jobs drive economic development. Within Maryland, we should attempt to increase science funding to offset some of the cuts at the federal level. We should also support scientists who seek to start their own businesses conducting research to move new products to market, providing lab space as part of business incubators, expanding partner networks between the researchers and manufacturers, and providing advisors on the business aspects required to make a private business viable. Existing programs associated with the University of Maryland such as TEDCO should be expanded.”
Q3 Maryland faces public health challenges ranging from stark socioeconomic health disparities, a behavioral health and opioid crisis that disproportionately impacts communities of color, gaps in rural mental health access, and a strained public health infrastructure. What evidence-based policies do you support to improve community health for your constituents?
“I support MEDICARE For All to ensure that all Maryland residents have health insurance. We also need to increase (double) the number of doctors and other health care providers produced by the University of Maryland system. I will work to bring a second hospital to Frederick County. I will monitor the Frederick Health Hospital and their affiliated companies to measure the quality of care provided and ensure that appropriate care is being provided and staffing levels are sufficient. I support increased spending on mental health. We also need close the gap that exists in research on women’s health versus research on men only. We need to ensure we accurately measure the differences in both health care provisioning and outcomes based on race, gender, and geographic location in order to identify where the gaps are, so we can address them.”
Q4 Across the state of Maryland, science and STEM education cultivate interest at a lower rate than intended, too few community-college students successfully transfer and complete bachelor’s degrees, and college affordability remains vulnerable to shifts in federal student aid and support. What evidence-based policies do you support to build a strong science and STEM pipeline from public schools and K-12 programs through colleges and universities for the next generation of Marylanders?
“We should start by making college education affordable for everyone. I want every Maryland high school graduate to be able to attend a public university without going into debt. As we increase Maryland spending on science jobs, we should include work-study options to bring students into science-related workplaces.”
Q5 What policies, if any, do you support or envision for managing land-based resources in your district (i.e. water, open-space preserves, parks)?
“I support the preservation of agricultural land in Frederick County. I am also concerned with the small municipalities within my district who need financial assistance to upgrade sewage treatment plants and water systems to meet the increased standards that are being imposed and address the growth in population within Frederick County. We need to restrict the increased number of new houses using well and septic, and move homes to “city water” to maintain or improve water quality. Where development occurs, it should be adjacent to existing urban areas, include affordable housing and set aside land for parks and open spaces.”
Q6 What advisory mechanisms will you implement to ensure that evidence and scientific findings play a crucial role in your policymaking process?
“I will work with Maryland state offices which have those responsibilities to provide oversight and assistance to ensure the measures they use are evidence-based. I will both work with advocacy groups, as well as doing my own review of the literature, to identify emerging technology which can be speed up to solve Maryland’s problems. Please feel free to contact me at 240-344-5882 to follow up and provide advice after I get elected.”
Q7 What initiatives will you take to support investment in innovation via federal science funding?
“We need to act at the State level to counter the cuts which are occurring at the Federal level. As the Federal level cuts taxes for millionaires and billionaires, the State needs to increase taxes on them to fund the science initiatives we need to fund due to the federal cuts. Maryland also needs to ensure we are receiving tax revenue from corporations who are not reporting earnings made in Maryland, but claiming their earnings in other states to avoid taxes. These efforts are needed to fund the science initiatives outlined in the answers above. As I said before we should also support scientists who seek to start their own businesses conducting research to move new products to market, providing lab space as part of business incubators, expanding partner networks between the researchers and manufacturers, and providing advisors on the business aspects required to make a private business viable. Existing programs associated with the University of Maryland such as TEDCO should be expanded.”