June 24, 2013 The Honorable Gabriel Albornoz Chair, Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee 3720 Farragut

Ave. Kensington, MD 20895 Re: District 15 Senate Appointment Dear Chairman Albornoz and Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee Members:

This letter is submitted in support of my candidacy for appointment to the District 15 State Senate seat that will be vacated by Rob Garagiola on September 1, 2013. Enclosed please find my resume for your review. At the outset, my candidacy is strongly endorsed by all of my District 15 colleagues, Senator Rob Garagiola, Delegate Kathleen Dumais and Delegate Aruna Miller, as well as the District 15 Democratic Caucus. In addition, my candidacy is endorsed by County Executive Ike Leggett, Congressmen Chris Van Hollen and John Delaney, Comptroller Peter Franchot, Attorney General Douglas Gansler, and the vast majority of the Montgomery County Delegation. By way of background, Rob Garagiola, Kathleen Dumais and I were elected to the General Assembly in 2002. Prior to my election, I was President of the District 15 Democratic Club. Senator Garagiola, Delegate Dumais and I worked closely with our District 15 Democratic precinct organization over the next several years to convert a legislative district that had leaned Republican electorally into a strong Democratic district. Prior to the 2002 election, three of the four legislative seats were held by Republicans. After the 2002 election, three of the four seats were occupied by Democrats. With the addition of Craig Rice in 2006 and then Aruna Miller in 2010 to our ticket, we were able to successfully transform District 15 into an all blue district. My proven electoral success in District 15 over three elections should be taken into consideration as Democrats defend the Senate seat next year in the legislative district that was the last to elect Republicans in Montgomery County. We have worked too hard over the past decade to put the seat at undue risk. Moreover, I will likely be the only person seeking the Senate appointment who has actually been elected by District 15 voters, a fact that should also be taken into account. I am a lifetime Democrat who has supported our county and state Democratic Party. For many years, I have been a member of the MCDCC Democratic Forum. I was an early supporter of Barack Obama and served as an Obama Delegate to the 2008 Democratic Convention. I subsequently served as an advisor to the Obama U.S. Department of Justice Transition Team. Professionally, I am both an Attorney and CPA, the only member of the legislature with both credentials. Prior to being elected in 2002, I was an attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice where I was a three-time recipient of the Justice Departments Outstanding Attorney Award. My legal background and litigation experience have proven to be extremely beneficial in the General Assembly. Since the 2002 election, I have been an attorney in private practice. I also have been

an adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University for the past 7 years where I teach a Masters Degree course on state policymaking which provides a perfect synergy with my legislative work. In the House of Delegates, I quickly established myself as a key leader in promoting our states biotechnology sector, an industry essential to Montgomery Countys economic future. In 2005, I received the Biotechnology Industry Organizations nationwide State Legislator of the Year award. I have introduced and gained passage of several dozen important bills over the past decade, including historic legislation which subjected Marylands electric companies such as PEPCO to economic sanctions for the first time if they do not meet new service reliability standards. After the 2006 election, I was selected to serve as Chair of the Banking, Economic Development, Science and Technology subcommittee. In 2007, I was elected by my colleagues to serve as Chair of the 24-member Montgomery County House Delegation. I served as Chair for five consecutive years, unanimously elected each time. In that capacity, I had to work to bring about consensus within our diverse County delegation on key issues and represent the interests of our County with House leadership and other County Delegations. After the 2010 election, Speaker Busch appointed me to be the House Parliamentarian, a leadership position where I am responsible for making parliamentary rulings during heated debates on the Floor of the House of Delegates. I am currently a member of Speaker Buschs senior leadership team. Working together with our strong Democratic team in the General Assembly, we have battled Republican opposition to gain passage in recent sessions of a progressive agenda that Democrats should be proud of. I have supported and helped gain passage of every significant piece of progressive legislation enacted during the past few sessions, including Gun Control, Death Penalty Repeal, the Dream Act, and Marriage Equality. In addition, I play a central role on the House Economic Matters Committee, which has been responsible for enacting major legislation benefitting Maryland workers such as an increase to the state minimum wage and the states first living wage law. Finally, Montgomery County will be losing two key leadership positions with the departure of Rob Garagiola, the Majority Leader, and the subsequent departure of Senator Brian Frosh, Chair of the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, who is leaving the Senate to run for Attorney General. My background and experience acquired over a decade in Annapolis will enable me to have an immediate impact in the Senate at this critical juncture for our Countys Senate Delegation. For all the foregoing reasons, I respectfully request your support. I look forward to meeting with each of you over the next few weeks to discuss the Senate position in greater detail. If you have any questions or need additional information, please contact me at xxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxx.net or on my cell at (301) XXX-XXXX. Best Regards, Brian J. Feldman