Tammie Baugher for Frederick County Council, District 3

ABOUT

A neighbor who's watched the county grow

Tammie Baugher has called the western part of the City of Frederick home for four decades. She works as a pharmacy technician at Sam's Club, where she regularly meets senior citizens struggling to afford their medications — an experience she cites as a driving reason she decided to run for public office for the first time.

Serving others isn't something Tammie does on the side — it's a lifestyle. For years she's supported and cared for seniors, raised money for St. Jude Children's Hospital by running its 5K for a decade running, and volunteered with the AMVETS, a local veterans organization. That same instinct to show up for her neighbors is what's driving her campaign.

Watching her own children struggle to afford life in the County convinced her it was time to act. She's running so Frederick families can put down roots and thrive here for generations to come.

Vote Tammie Baugher for County Council District 3 — standing up for working families.

"I hate to tell somebody their bill is over $100 and they need that medicine to live ..." — Tammie Baugher, on why she's running

Tammie Baugher with her family — Tammie with her family — the people who keep her grounded in why this campaign matters.

WHERE SHE STANDS

Campaign priorities

Cap property taxes for paid-off homes

Proposes a cap on county property taxes for residents who have paid off their mortgage, lowering the effective rate as home values rise so the dollar amount owed stays steady.

Fund schools, fix overcrowding

Cites overcrowded schools and a shortage of school buses as top concerns, and supports fully funding education.

Back first responders

Supports funding for first responders and easing restrictions on roadside solicitation for fire departments.

Slow data center growth

Opposes further data center development in the County.

Growth that pays for itself

Opposes fast-tracked zoning changes that outpace the County's roads and schools, favoring responsible growth that protects neighborhood character and keeps infrastructure from being pushed beyond capacity.

First-time candidate

Has not previously held elected office; frames her campaign around everyday cost-of-living concerns she hears from customers and neighbors.

THE GENERAL ELECTION

A choice about the values behind District 3

Baugher's general-election opponent is a self-proclaimed member of the Frederick chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), which endorsed and campaigned for his candidacy. Tammie's campaign believes that matters for voters weighing who should represent District 3.

Tammie believes County government should reward hard work, protect private property, and stay out of the way of families trying to get ahead — not import an economic philosophy that history has repeatedly shown doesn't work.

Around the world, attempts to build socialist economies have led to shortages, stagnation, and collapse rather than shared prosperity — not isolated failures, but what happens when government tries to replace the incentives that make a free economy work:

Venezuela: The government's seizure of private industry helped trigger one of the worst peacetime economic collapses on record, sending millions fleeing the country.
Soviet Union: Its centrally planned economy produced chronic shortages of basic goods before its collapse in 1991.
Cuba: Its state-run economy has left the island decades behind its neighbors on living standards.

DSA's own platform calls for abolishing capitalism and moving core industries into public ownership — a sharp departure from the free-enterprise system that built Frederick County's economy and the property rights, individual initiative, and limited government that most American voters expect from their elected officials.

Tammie Baugher stands for a County government that empowers families and small businesses — not one that experiments with an economic system that has failed everywhere it's been tried.

Sources: Frederick DSA chapter materials, Democratic Socialists of America national platform, and reporting on the economic history of Venezuela, the Soviet Union, and Cuba. Supporters of democratic socialism dispute this comparison — they generally distinguish their platform from these historical examples and point to Nordic-style social democracies as a different model. Voters can review both campaigns' full platforms directly.