Richard Impallaria

Richard K. Impallaria (born November 1, 1962) is an American politician who served as a member of the Maryland House of Delegates, representing District 7 in Baltimore and Harford counties, from 2003 to 2023.

Impallaria was born in Baltimore, Maryland.

He attended Joppatowne High School in Joppa, Maryland.

Prior to entering politics, Impallaria owned his own auto body shop in Middle River, Maryland.

He was also a chair of Citizens for Property Rights, Essex-Middle River Community in Action, is the former president of the Joppatowne Chapter of the Jay Cees Men's Club.

In 1982, Impallaria was charged with four counts of assault with intent to murder as a result of allegations that, "He tried to run down four people, including his mother and brother," and subsequently served three years probation for battery charge as a result of that incident.

Impallaria first got involved with politics in 2000, when he helped garner support for a referendum to repeal Senate Bill 509, which gave Baltimore County the power to condemn land in Essex and Randallstown for redevelopment.

The referendum succeeded in repealing the legislation, passing in the November general election with 70 percent of voters voting to repeal it.

Following the bill's defeat, Impallaria unsuccessfully tried to sell land in Essex for $1 million to the county for redevelopment.

In 2002, Impallaria ran for the Maryland House of Delegates, seeking to succeed state delegate Nancy Hubers.

He won the Republican primary with 13.7 percent of the vote, coming in third place behind Pat McDonough and J. B. Jennings.

In October 2002, state senator Andy Harris, state delegates Alfred W. Redmer Jr. and James F. Ports Jr., and Bob Ehrlich's campaign manager R. Karl Aumann asked Impallaria to withdraw from the House of Delegates election, expressing concerns over his criminal record.

Impallaria won the general election on November 5, 2002, coming in third place with 17.0 percent of the vote.

Impallaria was elected to the House of Delegates in 2002.

He was sworn in on January 8, 2003, and was subsequently re-elected in 2006, 2010, 2014, and 2018.

In 2022, Impallaria was redrawn into District 7B, where he ran for re-election but was defeated in the Republican primary in District 7B by state delegate Lauren Arikan in July 2022.

In August 2003, the Maryland Department of the Environment issued a citation to Impallaria after concrete, dirt, and other debris was dumped into a stream that leads into the Middle River from his property.

In November, he was again issued a 30-day citation over pollution to the stream, and gave him 30 days to clean up the rubble.

In July 2011, Impallaria filed a lawsuit as a mandamus action against Harford County sheriff Jesse Bane, alleging that Bane failed to prevent the withholding of personal property and license tags by T & S Towing, a local towing service company.

In December 2011, Baltimore County Circuit Judge Barbara K. Howe dismissed Impallaria's claim with prejudice.

In January 2012, Impallaria declared his candidacy for the United States House of Representatives in Maryland's 2nd congressional district, challenging incumbent U.S. Representative Dutch Ruppersberger.

Impallaria, a resident of the town of Joppa, lived nine-tenths a mile outside of the 2nd district.

During the primary election, he was endorsed by delegate Pat McDonough and ran on a platform of opposing same-sex marriage and in-state tuition for illegal immigrants.

Impallaria was defeated in the Republican primary by state senator Nancy Jacobs, receiving 23.8 percent of the vote and coming in second place.

In August 2016, Impallaria was arrested in Ocean City, Maryland, and charged with driving under the Influence.

In April 2017, he was convicted and sentenced to two days in jail.

He was originally sentenced to 60 days due to his previous traffic record, which includes over 50 various citations.

On July 27, 2022, Impallaria was charged with multiple counts of theft and misconduct in office, alleging that he misused state funds involving a personal cottage and a district office in Essex, which is located outside of his district.

On September 2, he was charged with illegal ammunition and gun possession by a prohibited individual.

In June 2018, state delegate Kathy Szeliga accused Impallaria of sending out campaign mailers attacking Szeliga by calling her a closet Democrat.

Impallaria initially declined responsibility for this, but after Szeliga emailed him to say she would inform their GOP colleagues about the fliers targeting her, he forwarded the email to every member of the House Republican caucus in which he referred to himself as the "evil genius" responsible for the attacks on Szeliga.

In January 2019, the Office of the State Prosecutor charged Impallaria's chief of staff, Tyler Walch, for violating state election law for making robocalls to Szeliga's constituents without disclosing who paid for and who authorized the message.

The calls misleadingly claimed that Szeliga was a supporter of the transgender community and had voted in favor of a bill that would make it illegal to discriminate against someone on the basis of gender identity.

The National Center for Transgender Equality, the non-profit social equity organization mentioned on the robocalls, said that no one with the organization was contacted by Impallaria or his campaign in connection with the call.

Impallaria denied any knowledge about the call, saying that he never approved or paid for it.

In April 2019, his chief of staff was convicted and sentenced to 100 hours of community service and a $1,000 fine for violating the authority line requirements of Maryland election law.

In May 2019, the Maryland Republican Party asked Impallaria to resign from the Maryland House of Delegates, saying he was "unworthy of the title Delegate" following a controversy over a campaign robocall, a history of traffic violations, and a lawsuit against party officials.

Impallaria refused to resign, saying that it was up to his constituents to decide whether he stays in the Maryland General Assembly.

In January 2020, Impallaria again ran for the United States House of Representatives in Maryland's 2nd congressional district, challenging incumbent U.S. Representative Dutch Ruppersberger.

He was defeated by state senator Johnny Ray Salling in the Republican primary election, placing fourth with 16.2 percent of the vote.