Michael Hough

Michael Joseph Hough (born November 4, 1979) is an American politician who served in the Maryland Senate, representing District 4 in Frederick and Carroll Counties, from 2015 to 2023.

Hough was born in Silver Spring, Maryland on November 4, 1979.

He was one of three children, and was raised in Montgomery Village.

Hough graduated from Watkins Mill High School, afterwards enlisting in the U.S. Air Force, serving as a missile maintenance technician from 1998 to 2002, and attending the Community College of the Air Force, where he earned an associate degree in applied sciences.

During his service, his parents moved from Montgomery Village to Point of Rocks, prompting him to also move to Frederick County.

After serving in the Air Force, Hough worked as a sales associate for Sears from 2002 to 2004, after which he became a legislative aide to Maryland state senator Alex Mooney until his election to the Frederick County Republican Central Committee in 2007.

Hough later earned a Bachelor of Science in political science from Towson University in 2007.

He served as the chair of the central committee in 2008, during which he organized support for Republican candidates in the 2008 and 2010 elections.

In 2009, Hough launched a campaign for the Maryland House of Delegates in District 3B.

In January 2010, Hough applied to fill a vacancy in the Maryland House of Delegates left by the resignation of state delegate Richard B. Weldon Jr., who resigned to become an executive assistant to Frederick mayor Randy McClement.

He was nominated to fill the vacancy by the Frederick County Republican Central Committee alongside Charles A. Jenkins and John Lovells; Governor Martin O'Malley appointed Jenkins to the seat later that month.

Afterwards, Hough targeted Jenkins in the Republican primary.

During his campaign, he was able to outraise Jenkins walked from Sandy Hook to Monrovia, a distance of 40 mi, to meet with voters.

He also ran on a platform of opposing tax increases, privatizing government services, and deregulation.

A member of the Republican Party, Hough previously represented District 3B in the Maryland House of Delegates from 2011 to 2015.

Hough unsuccessfully ran for Frederick County Executive in 2022, losing to county councilmember Jessica Fitzwater.

Hough was sworn in to the Maryland House of Delegates on January 12, 2011, where he served on the Judiciary Committee during his entire tenure and as assistant majority leader from 2013 to 2015.

In 2012, he served as a delegate to the Republican National Convention, pledged to Mitt Romney.

In February 2014, Hough announced that he would run for the Maryland Senate in District 4, challenging incumbent state senator David R. Brinkley, whom he criticized for voting for O'Malley's budgets and for a bill providing health insurance to uninsured individuals.

In May 2014, an Emmitsburg resident filed an ethics complaint against Hough for using taxpayer funding to send him a birthday note on an official letterhead, noting that he wasn't even one of Hough's constituents (instead living in Brinkley's district).

Hough disputed the complaint, saying that he received approval from state ethics advisors to send birthday messages so long as he paid for the postage.

During the Republican primary, he received endorsements from U.S. Representative Andy Harris, former U.S. Representative Roscoe Bartlett, and state delegates Kathy Afzali, Justin Ready, and Neil Parrott.

Hough defeated Brinkley in the Republican primary election on June 24, 2014, receiving 67.7 percent of the vote to Brinkley's 32.3 percent.

He faced Democratic nominee Dan Rupli in the general election, during which he donated campaign funds to other Republican nominees in local races.

He defeated Rupli with 67.7 percent of the vote in the general election on November 4, 2014.

Hough was sworn into the Maryland Senate on January 14, 2015, where he served on the Judicial Proceedings Committee during his entire tenure.

From 2015 to 2017, Hough worked as a policy advisor for the Faith and Freedom Coalition, afterwards working as the chief of staff to U.S. Representative Alex Mooney.

During the 2016 Republican Party presidential primaries, Hough served as the chair of Ted Cruz's campaign in Maryland.

Maryland Matters described Hough as being "one of the most prolific fundraisers" in the Maryland Senate; during the 2018 elections, Hough helped raise funds for the Senate Republican Caucus Committee and the Frederick County Republican Victory Slate to support Republican nominees in the Frederick County executive election and the Maryland Senate District 3 election.

During his 2018 re-election campaign, Hough raffled away an AR-15–style rifle with 250 rounds of ammunition.

Frederick County Sheriff Chuck Jenkins questioned the legality of Hough's AR-15 rifle, noting that he did not obtain a raffle permit from the county permitting office; however, Hough said that he did not need one as county law regarding raffle permits only applied to nonprofit organizations.

During the 2020 presidential election, he canvassed and phonebanked for Donald Trump in York, Pennsylvania.

Hough was in the Rayburn House Office Building during the January 6 Capitol attack, during which he called on Trump to call on demonstrators to stand down.

In October 2020, the Maryland Senate Republican Caucus voted to elect Hough to serve as Senate minority whip, replacing state senator Stephen S. Hershey Jr., who opted against reelection to the position, which was seen by the media as the Senate Republican caucus becoming more conservative as to push back on the perceived leftward shift of the Maryland Democratic Party following the election of Bill Ferguson as Senate president.

In this capacity, Hough promised to work with Democratic lawmakers on issues including police reform, but lobbied against bills opposed by the Hogan administration such as the Blueprint for Maryland's Future.

He stepped down as minority whip on October 4, 2021, to focus on his campaign for Frederick County executive.

He was succeeded by state senator Justin Ready.

[[File:2022 Frederick County executive election results by precinct.svg|thumb|175px|2022 Frederick County executive election results by precinct {{legend|#7996E2|Fitzwater}}

{{legend|#7996E2|50–60%}}

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