Joseph Vogel (born January 4, 1997) is an Uruguay-born American politician who has served as a member of the Maryland House of Delegates from District 17 since 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, his district includes the Montgomery County cities of Gaithersburg and Rockville; he represents the district alongside fellow Democratic delegates Julie Palakovich Carr and Ryan Spiegel.
Early life and education
Vogel was born in Montevideo, Uruguay on January 4, 1997. He immigrated to the United States with his family when he was three years old due to his father's job as a diplomat for the International Monetary Fund. His family settled in Rockville, Maryland, upon immigrating to the United States. He became a U.S. citizen in November 2016.
Vogel graduated from Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School and attended George Washington University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in political science in 2018. He later attended Harvard University, where he earned a master's in public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School in 2022.
While a student at George Washington University, Vogel served as an at-large member of the Student Association Senate but was impeached and removed from office in January 2018 for missing four consecutive meetings due to his involvement with Ralph Northam's 2017 gubernatorial campaign in Virginia.
Career
Early career
Vogel developed an interest in politics while in school, where he had been active in student government. He volunteered on Barack Obama's 2012 presidential campaign and later worked on Cheryl Kagan's 2014 State Senate campaign. Vogel was a college intern for then-House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and then-Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
Vogel took a year off of college at George Washington University to work on the national advance team of Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign. He later got involved in the March for Our Lives movement and in protests against the Supreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh, and worked as an advance lead for Ralph Northam's 2017 gubernatorial campaign and as advance director for Cory Booker's 2020 presidential campaign. After Booker suspended his campaign, he worked on Michael Bloomberg's 2020 presidential campaign.
Vogel served on the Maryland Youth Advisory Council from 2015 to 2016. He also worked as a policy fellow at Interfaith Works in Montgomery County and founded Learn It Together, a nonprofit organization to help students of essential workers as they transitioned to remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Maryland House of Delegates
In September 2021, Vogel announced he would run for the Maryland House of Delegates, challenging incumbent Democratic state delegate James W. Gilchrist, who later announced his retirement; Kagan, who had political differences with Gilchrest, recruited Vogel to run for the seat. During the primary, Vogel strategized with Connecticut state senator Will Haskell and hosted campaign events featuring Cory Booker. He won the Democratic primary with 27.9% of the vote and defeated Republican challengers Helene Meister and Donald Patti in the general election with 27.5% of the vote.
Vogel was sworn into the Maryland House of Delegates on January 11, 2023. He represents District 17, which includes the cities of Gaithersburg and Rockville. He is the youngest member of the Maryland General Assembly and, alongside Jeffrie Long Jr., is the first Generation Z member of the Maryland General Assembly. He is a member of the House Ways and Means Committee.
2024 congressional campaign
In May 2023, Vogel announced he would run for the U.S. House of Representatives in Maryland's 6th congressional district to succeed David Trone, who is running for the United States Senate in 2024 to succeed retiring Democratic senator Ben Cardin. If elected, he would be the first Latino, first Gen Z, and first openly LGBTQ member of Congress from Maryland. Vogel's platform includes supporting LGBT rights, addressing climate change, and fighting right wing extremism.
Political positions
During his House of Delegates campaign, Vogel ran on a platform that included climate, mental health, and economic issues. He has described himself as a "pragmatic progressive" and cited Cory Booker as his political role model.
Education
Vogel supports making public colleges tuition-free as well as codifying President Joe Biden's cancellation of up to $20,000 in student loan debt into law. During the 2023 legislative session, Vogel introduced a bill to forgive up to $30,000 in student debt for mental health professionals employed at Maryland public schools.