Anderton to leave House for Maryland Commerce Department post

Del. Carl L. Anderton Jr. (R-Lower Shore) greets people at the 2021 J. Millard Tawes Crab and Clam Bake. Photo by Danielle E. Gaines.

Another seat in the House of Delegates is about to come open.

Del. Carl Anderton (R-Wicomico) is expected to submit his resignation this week and accept an appointment in the administration of Gov. Wes Moore (D).

Anderton is expected to become the director of rural strategy within the state Department of Commerce, according to multiple sources.

Elected in 2015, Anderton said he focused primarily on constituent service during his tenure. He has served on the House Appropriations Committee since 2019.

“I woke up every day wanting to not let down the people who voted for me and to earn the votes of the people who didn’t,” he said Tuesday. “We’re not perfect. We let some people down but if we were a baseball player, we’d have Hall of Fame numbers.”

In Annapolis, Anderton cultivated relationships with Democrats and Republicans. Many in the chamber referred to him by his nickname — Cornbread.

Anderton, 51, came up through local government on the Eastern Shore. He served five years on the Delmar Town Commission and another four as the town’s mayor.

He said he brought that local approach to issues in Annapolis, focusing on restoring highway user revenues and disparity funding for local education — key issues for county and municipal governments.

The coming vacancy is the latest in the General Assembly and the second in recent weeks in the House of Delegates.

The Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee is expected to nominate a candidate this week to fill the vacancy created when Del. Sara Love was appointed to fill a vacancy in the Senate.

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