Who is Kelly Schulz?

Kelly M. Schulz is an American politician. She served as the Secretary of the Maryland Department of Commerce from January 2019 to January 2022. She is a candidate for the Republican nomination for Governor of Maryland in 2022. If elected, she would be the first woman to serve as the governor of Maryland. 

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She was born on January 2, 1969, in Warren, Michigan. She completed her undergraduate studies at Hood College with a BA in political science in 2006. 

She has worked for the federal government, as an appointee to the Environmental Protection Agency under President George W. Bush. She received the Grass-Root Activist Award in 2005 for her service to the Maryland Republican Party. Schulz represented Maryland at the Republican National Convention in 2008. 

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Schulz won a seat in the two-member District 4A in Frederick Country, Maryland in 2010. She was assigned to the House Economic Matters committee in 2011 and was also a member of Women Legislators of Maryland. She represented Rick Perry in the 2012 run as a Delegate to the Republican National Convention. 

Schulz was chosen as the Secretary for the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation by Governor-Elect Larry Hogan in 2015. In 2018, Hogan announced Schulz would succeed Mike Gill as Maryland Secretary of Commerce. 

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On December 30, 2021, the Hogan administration announced that Schulz would leave the administration in order to focus on her gubernatorial campaign. Schulz was succeeded by Mike Gill as Secretary of Commerce. 

Schulz announced in April 2021 that she would be a candidate for the Republican nomination for Governor of Maryland in the 2022 Maryland gubernatorial election. Jeff Woolford, an Air Force veteran and assistant Health Secretary is her running mate. She has been endorsed by Larry Horgan. 

“Tonight, I joined my friends Senator Paul Corderman and Delegate Brenda Thiam at the Washington County Ag Expo & Fair for our final event before election day. It was great to be back in Western Maryland – it is an incredibly important part of our state that I will never forget,” she tweeted on July 19.