Actions Of Maryland Democrats In The General Assembly. The Picture Is Not Pretty
Recently the 2/28/2026 edition EASTON STAR DEMOCRAT carried a story about how partisan politics have seeped into school board races in Talbot County, Maryland. The article was published after the filing deadline for candidacy for all local and state elected positions.
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The people quoted in the article included local leaders from both the Republican and Democrat Central Committees. Most of the comments were the normal generic support of certain board candidates, but Phil Jackson, Chairman of the Talbot County Central Committee, revealed more than the normal level of vitriol and lies in his comments as he claimed that the funding for school board races of certain candidates was being fueled by alleged "dark money" but that the local Democrat party only wants to elect candidates who won't give in to the "culture wars." Funny considering how Democrats have become quite adept at spreading the culture wars to our public-school classrooms, particularly through their actions in the Maryland General Assembly.
It's also important to note the Phil's wife, Emily, is currently the President of the Talbot County School Board and is running again. Her challenger is retired teacher Mike Butler. Jackson has been on the board since 2022. During that time, student academic achievement has been static or has fallen on state testing. In particular, the county has only 45% of students reading proficiently and 18.9% of students proficient in math. Is that her fault? The answer is no. However, test scores during her tenure are a fact that cannot be avoided.
It's no wonder husband Phil was so willing to go low on his statements. It seems personal with him that anyone would run against his wife. Phil ran for county council in 2024,but finished in 9th place out of 10 candidates.
In the Star Democrat article, Phil made this inflammatory statement:
For his part, Jackson mentioned organizations like Moms for Liberty — a self-described “parents’ rights” organization that backed O’Connor in the 2024 election — which introduce topics he says are “in many cases irrelevant, and in other cases, just really toxic.” (O'Connor is a sitting board member elected in 2024.)
While the inaccuracies and lies in this statement are astonishing and easily debunked, it's the back end of the quote that reveals so much about Phil's, the Democrat Party's, and maybe even his wife's beliefs about school issues. He calls topics that the national organization Moms for Liberty support "irrelevant" and "toxic." Let's see what those topics are by examining the Maryland Moms for Liberty State Legislative Committee list of bills they supported in the 2026 General Assembly:
House Bill 063/Senate Bill 50 - Save Girls Sports - a bill that would allow schools to designate sports as exclusive to males or females based on biological sex and would protect schools from being sued for doing so.
Senate Bill 147/House Bill 0116 - A bill that would require transparency in all school district contracts, purchases, and memorandums of understanding so that the public would know which businesses, contractors, and other groups were getting public school funds.
Senate Bill 329/House Bill 455 - The "Opting in on Opportunity Act" a bill that would allow Maryland families to participate in the federal school choice program, a program not funded by taxpayers but by private donors.
House Bill 0679- A bill that would prohibit Cross Sex Hormone Therapy for minors.
House Bill 924 - Safe Kids Act - A bill to protect children from Child Sex Exploitation Materials (Makes exposing children to these materials a crime)
Senate Bill 903/House Bill 1334 - Maryland Public Education Parental Partnership Act - a bill that would require school systems to reach out to parents via social media, policies etc. to overtly encourage parental involvement/partnership in schools
House Bill 1528- A bill that would allow Homeschool students to participate in public school extracurricular activities
House Bill 1418- A bill that prohibited Public and Non-Public Schools from Employing Individuals Charged with Crimes (particularly important since several Maryland school districts have employed convicted criminals, some walking around in ankle monitors).
House Bill 0976/Senate Bill 0712 -Education Funding Accuracy Act - A bill that would change the current school per student funding formula to include more than one day's student count each year to determine district funds, thus preventing fraud or inaccurate local district funding. One of the big scandals of last year was about the fraud surrounding funds for missing students:
House Bill 710 - Making the display of obscene materials to minors a crime.
The bills above encompass support for women's sports and safe private spaces for women, school safety by ensuring employees are not criminals, protection of children from pornography and/or sexual exploitation in schools. school choice for children of all economic levels, transparency in school district contracts and purchases, protection of children from harmful medical procedures, encouragement and accessibility for parents to participate in their child's education, preventing waste and fraud by schools getting paid for "ghost students," and opportunity for homeschool children to participate in school activities. The support for these issues is consistent with the positions of the national organization.
Mr. Jackson apparently sees these issues as irrelevant and toxic since Moms for Liberty supports them. Maybe he can expand on his viewpoint and why he thinks these issues are irrelevant and/or toxic. Toxic is a word that goes beyond disagreement, it implies that the issue causes extreme harm.
Phil is not the only Democrat who apparently doesn't see these issues as important or even sees them as toxic. The Democrats in Maryland, who have a super-majority, seem to feel the same way.
How do we know? We know because none of the bills listed above moved out of committees in the 2026 Maryland Assembly to get a vote. They were blocked by Democrat majorities on committees led by Democrat Committee chairmen.
It's no wonder since Dems were busy trying to redistrict the State, make Maryland a sanctuary state, put tampons in men's health centers, encourage juvenile crime, tie the hands of police, fight federal law enforcement in the state and remove Constitutional second amendment rights from Maryland citizens. All while they spew hatred of President Trump, all who supported him, and any citizen who expresses a desire for parental rights and family values.
Democrats are very good at showing us who they are. Mr. Jackson, the Talbot County Democrat Central Committee Chairman, gave us a clear picture and that picture is backed up by the actions of the Maryland General Assembly.
To be totally fair, I don't know how Emily Jackson, Phil's wife, feels the same way he does about the issues Moms for Liberty fought for. She is welcome to let us know.
OTHER NOTES: Mr. Jackson claims there is "dark money" funding candidates and by implication, Moms for Liberty. I wish I knew what he is talking about because our chapter hasn't seen any such money. He also described our support for a particular school board candidate, Anne O'Connor. I would like him to share examples of that support either by monetary donations, a publicly stated endorsement, or other methods. Receipts are always good, Phil.
What is ironic in retrospect is that the Southern Poverty Law Center was recently indicted in Alabama for with the following charges. They apparently like to designate groups as "hateful" without any proof (or receipts) at all. What's even worse is that they funneled money from their donations to groups who are actually extremist hate groups. From CBS News:
A federal grand jury in Alabama indicted the Southern Poverty Law Center on 11 counts of wire and bank fraud-related charges on Tuesday, the Justice Department announced, accusing the group of paying members of extremist groups as part of its efforts to investigate them without disclosing the practice to donors or banks.
Here is a list of those organizations:
Federal filings and investigative reporting indicate that more than $3 million in SPLC donor money (2014–2023) was routed to people associated with the following extremist organizations:
- National Alliance — Approx. $1,000,000 A neo‑Nazi, white supremacist organization based in West Virginia.
- Aryan Nations — Approx. $300,000 A white supremacist, neo‑Nazi group historically based in Idaho.
- Unite the Right leadership — Approx. $270,000 Funds allegedly went to a member of the leadership group that organized the 2017 Charlottesville rally.
- Former National Alliance chairman — Approx. $140,000 Separate from the $1M to the organization itself.
- Former Ku Klux Klan members — Approx. $73,000 Individuals with prior KKK affiliation reportedly received payments.
- American Front — Approx. $19,000 A California‑based white supremacist group; funds allegedly went to its president.
- National Socialist Movement (NSM) — Unspecified amounts A neo‑Nazi organization.
- National Socialist Party of America (American Nazi Party) — Unspecified amounts Another neo‑Nazi group referenced in the indictment.
The bottom line here is that the SPLC paid members of the above groups as the KKK, and others, to participate in protests in order to foment racial hatred so the SPLC could raise money off that racial hatred.
Meanwhile, they published long lists of groups who advocated for parental rights and freedom of speech such as Moms for Liberty, Prager Institute, Heritage Foundation, Turning Point USA, Moms for America, etc. and designated them as "hate groups" in much the same way that Mr. Jackson implied that Moms for Liberty is "toxic". In the case of the SPLC, that group tormented members of those organizations nationally and locally. Many members of those groups experienced threats and harassment by crazy leftists based on that designation, even in their local communities.
It appears as though the SPLC, a group Democrats love, was the "dark money" in recent actions. They monetarily supported REAL hate groups. These articles also show how they "manufactured" the designations of "hate group" for organizations that they just didn't like, organizations that were not hateful nor racist. The following article shows the effects of the SPLC's actions and possible consequences:
https://www.dailywire.com/news/splcs-favorite-conservative-targets-get-the-last-laugh
https://stardem-md.newsmemory.com/?publink=1ab71d999_1351fa8
The ultimate question is, who is promoting irrelevant issues and toxicity? Maryland Dems need to look in the mirror to find that answer.
AUTHOR: The author of this article is the current Chapter Chair for the Talbot County Moms for Liberty Chapter as well as for the Maryland Moms for Liberty Legislative Committee.
