Karen Lewis Young

Karen Lewis Young (born June 21, 1951) is an American politician who has served in the Maryland Senate from District 3 since 2023. She previously served as a member of the Maryland House of Delegates from District 3A from 2015 to 2023.

Early life and career
Lewis Young was born to a Jewish family in The Bronx on June 21, 1951, and was raised in Montoursville, Pennsylvania. She attended Franklin & Marshall College, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in history in 1973, and Columbia University, where she earned an Master of Arts degree in American history in 1974 and an Master of Business Administration degree in marketing in 1977. She worked at a variety of financial firms, including Citibank, Capital One, Chase Manhattan Bank, and American Express, from 1996 to 2008 and operated her own consulting business, Karen Lewis Market Research, from 2004 to 2006.

Lewis Young moved to Frederick, Maryland in 1996 to do direct marketing for Farmers and Mechanics National Bank.

In May 2009, Lewis Young announced that she would run for a seat on the Frederick Board of Aldermen, motivated by the 2008 United States presidential election and her community involvement. She earned 14.34 percent of the vote in the Democratic primaries and 11.57 percent of the vote in the general election.

In 2013, Lewis Young unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Frederick, earning 31.10 percent of the vote in the general election.

In the legislature
In February 2014, Lewis Young announced that she would for the Maryland House of Delegates, seeking to succeed delegate Galen R. Clagett, who was retiring that year. She received 34.5 percent of the vote in the Democratic primary election and defeated Republican challengers Victoria Wilkins and county commissioner Paul Smith in the general election with 26.3 percent of the vote.

Lewis Young was sworn into the Maryland House of Delegates on January 14, 2015. She was a member of the Health and Government Operations Committee. Upon her swearing in, she and her husband Ronald N. Young became the first husband and wife to simultaneously serve together in the Maryland General Assembly. Lewis Young was subsequently re-elected to a second term in 2018.

Lewis Young participated in the Women's March in Frederick following the inauguration of Donald Trump. During the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries, she served as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention, pledged to Joe Biden.

In June 2021, Lewis Young announced that she would run for Maryland Senate in 2022, seeking to succeed her husband, Ronald, who later endorsed her campaign. Lewis Young won the Democratic primary on July 19, 2022, defeating county school board member Jay Mason with 68.3 percent of the vote, and later defeated Republican Angela Ariel McIntosh in the general election with 66.5 percent of the vote.

Lewis Young was sworn into the Maryland Senate on January 11, 2023, becoming the first woman elected to represent western Maryland in the Senate. She is a member of the Education, Energy, and Environment Committee.

Personal life
Lewis Young met her future husband Ronald N. Young in 2003 when she was working as the Weinberg Center's chairwoman. The couple married in 2006. Together, they have five sons, including Blaine Young, a former Republican member of the Frederick County Board of Commissioners; Brad Young, the president of the Frederick County Council as of 2023; and Brian Young, a former member of the Frederick County Democratic Central Committee.

Education
In December 2015, Lewis Young said she disagreed with Governor Larry Hogan's decision to withhold funding from Maryland's costliest public school systems.

During the 2017 legislative session, Lewis Young supported a bill to give the student member of the Frederick County Board of Education partial voting rights. She criticized Republican members of the Frederick County Delegation for filibustering the bill and, following the bill dying in the Frederick County Delegation, introduced the bill in the General Assembly. The bill was reintroduced in 2020.

Environment
During the 2023 legislative session, Lewis Young introduced legislation to strengthen the state's EmPOWER energy efficiency program by expanding its scope to include greenhouse gas emissions reductions. The bill, which was opposed by state electric utilities companies, died in committee.

Health care
During the 2015 legislative session, Lewis Young introduced a bill to encourage the prescription of abuse-deterrent painkillers to combat the heroin epidemic. The bill passed and was signed into law by Governor Larry Hogan. In 2016, she introduced a bill criminalizing the improper prescribing of certain drugs, which died in committee. In 2019, she supported a bill to create supervised injection sites to prevent drug overdoses.

During the 2016 legislative session, Lewis Young introduced a "right to try" bill that would allow terminally ill patients to try medication approved by the Food and Drug Administration but not available to the general public. The bill was reintroduced in 2017, during which it passed and became law.

During the 2018 legislative session, Lewis Young introduced a bill to ask the federal government to divert money to Maryland used to offset the cost of high-risk patients on the Affordable Care Act's insurance pool, instead using it under a new "reinsurance program" under the Maryland Health Benefit Exchange. The bill passed and became law with Governor Hogan's signature, and the plan was approved by federal regulators in August 2018.

In 2019, Lewis Young introduced a bill to establish a Patients' Bill of Rights. The bill passed and was signed into law by Governor Hogan.

In March 2019, Lewis Young voted for the End-of-Life Option Act, which would have provided palliative care to terminally ill adults.

During the 2022 legislative session, Lewis Young introduced a bill to protect public health officials and hospital workers from threats, citing harassment directed toward health officials following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Minimum wage
During the 2017 legislative session, Lewis Young introduced a bill requiring companies to include salary information in job postings and limit employers' ability to ask job applicants about their salary history.

Redistricting
In November 2015, Lewis Young said she supported using an independent redistricting commission to draw Maryland's congressional districts, but said she preferred a "national solution" to gerrymandering.

Social issues
Lewis Young supported efforts to repeal "Maryland, My Maryland" as the official state song, noting in 2021 that the song was adopted during "one of the most racist periods in Maryland". She also supported the relocation of the Roger B. Taney Monument at the Maryland State House.

During the 2015 legislative session, Lewis introduced a bill to prevent people convicted of animal abuse from adopting or buying a pet.

In 2017, Lewis Young introduced a bill requiring the Maryland State Police to create a statewide sexual assault tracking system.

In January 2019, Lewis Young was one of nine Maryland lawmakers to add their names to a manifesto signed by 326 state legislators to reaffirm their commitment to protecting abortion rights.

During the 2022 legislative session, Lewis Young introduced legislation to start a pilot program for court-ordered mental health treatment.

Transportation
Lewis Young supports expanding Interstate 270 and increasing public transit options in Maryland.