Maryland GOP leaders reject secession suggestion: 'We're not giving up a single county' to West Virginia

Tinashe Chingarande, Baltimore Sun on Nov 17, 2025

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Maryland elected officials representing Allegany, Garrett and Washington counties have rejected an invitation to consider breaking away and joining West Virginia.

West Virginia state Sen. Chris Rose last week introduced legislation in his state’s upper chamber, inviting the three rural counties, in addition to 27 others in Virginia, to secede to West Virginia to “strengthen regional ties and promote shared Appalachian values.” Rose argued that residents’ concerns in these counties — which often elect local Republican leadership — are being overlooked by the Democratic-controlled state government.

But GOP leaders in Maryland balked at the proposal. The Baltimore Sun reached out to all eight elected officials representing Allegany, Garrett and Washington counties and spoke to two of them, as well as members of House and Senate Republican leadership.

“Let’s be clear: we’re not giving up a single county to West Virginia or anywhere else,” Senate Minority Leader Steve Hershey said Monday in a text message to The Baltimore Sun. “Each of Maryland’s counties is essential to who we are as a state. Their communities, histories, and unique identities are part of what makes Maryland truly ‘America in miniature.’”

House Minority Leader Jason Buckel, whose district is in Allegany County, acknowledged that residents in rural Western Maryland are “frustrated” with their economic conditions and feel alienated by state leadership. However, he argued, secession is an “extremely difficult maneuver.”

“There’s little practical possibility in exploring these rather radical ideas that have been vetted before,” Buckel texted The Baltimore Sun. “And given all the challenges Maryland and our Western Maryland region have in front of us, I don’t envision expending any precious time or resources on this issue at this time.”

Rep. Andy Harris, the lone Republican in Maryland’s congressional delegation, chastised Gov. Wes Moore for ignoring Republican voters’ interests with his redistricting push that would wipe out the state’s only Republican congressional district. Therefore, in Harris’s opinion, secession is a reasonable solution. Harris does not represent any part of Allegany, Garrett or Washington counties.

“If Governor IDGAF is going to disenfranchise Western Maryland Republicans as he plans, they definitely should consider joining a state where diversity of political opinion is not discriminated against,” Harris said Monday in a statement to The Baltimore Sun, referring to Gov. Wes Moore’s use of an expletive containing acronym as he shot back at critics of his mid-decade redistricting plans. (IDGAF is an acronym that stands for “I don’t give a f***.”)

As things stand, secession is politically and legally untenable. Not only would West Virginia and Maryland’s legislatures, and the United States Congress have to approve redrawing state lines to accommodate a secession, Maryland would also have to give up a portion of its tax base, as well as a population that helps determine the number of its Electoral College votes and congressional districts.

But in 2021, five Republican lawmakers from Western Maryland wrote to West Virginia officials, asking them to annex Allegany, Garrett and Washington counties. At the time, these lawmakers said they wrote to bring attention to the issues their sparsely populated rural areas face. But Sen. Michael McKay — who was a delegate at the time — actually seemed keen on secession.

McKay did not respond to a request for comment asking for his reaction to Rose’s legislation.

Buckel signed onto the 2021 letter, arguing at the time that it would prompt Maryland lawmakers to consider Western Maryland’s needs. Now, he says, he has “no interest nor intention” in secession.

“West Virginia legislators from time to time seem to put these resolutions in their state legislative system for whatever reasons they find useful,” Buckel said in a text message to The Baltimore Sun. “I’m not involved in that then, or now, and don’t find the exercise to be a good use of our political time or capital.”

For Del. William Wivell, who represents parts of Washington County, secession should be the result of an organic grassroots movement.

“If there’s any interest among the constituency to separate from MD, it would need to be an effort that is driven by the grass roots,” Wivell said in a text message to The Baltimore Sun. “As one holding an elected position, our/my opinion(s) carry no more weight than any other Citizen’s opinion.”

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