Republican Del. Tanya Thornton Shewell, who was appointed to the General Assembly in August 2004, will campaign for the District 5A seat this year.
"I have learned that I can do the job and that I can accomplish things for the people of Carroll County," Shewell said. "Carroll County has a set of values and issues that are unique to it. I match those well, especially in terms of families."
Shewell, 61, has worked behind the scenes in the Republican Party for nearly all of the 30 years she has lived in the county. A 1970 graduate of what was then Towson State College, she has worked as a supervisor for the state Department of Education; director for Granite House, a mental health counseling agency in Westminster; and as the manager for Carroll Lutheran Health Services.
In 2005, her freshman Assembly session, she won unanimous support for a bill to improve the jury pool.
"We need our juries to look like the face of America, not just be filled with the retired or unemployed," she said.
A fiscal conservative, Shewell has set legislative priorities that she hopes will make taxes lower, reduce unfunded mandates and curtail waste. She also hopes to promote education, economic development and public health and safety, as well as create jobs.
