Sheree L. Sample-Hughes is an American politician who is the Speaker pro tempore of the Maryland House of Delegates and serves as a Delegate to the Maryland General Assembly representing legislative district 37A in Dorchester and Wicomico Counties on the Eastern Shore, centered around Salisbury.
Early and personal life
Sample-Hughes was born on September 13, 1977. She grew up in Salisbury, Maryland, and attended Parkside High School. She went on to earn a bachelor's degree in public relations from Delaware State University in 1999, and a master's degree in public administration from Wilmington University in 2014. Sample-Hughes is a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.
Sample-Hughes is married to her husband, Desmond, and has two sons. She teaches at Wor-Wic Community College. In 2017, her son was involved in a serious incident that required him to be airlifted to the University of Maryland, Baltimore.
Political career
Early career
Sample-Hughes first got involved in public service as an affordable housing coordinator for Pocomoke City, where she worked until 2000 when she became a special events coordinator for the Governor's Office on Service and Volunteerism. From 2002 to 2004, she served as the president of her local American Legion Post.
In 2006, Sample-Hughes was elected to the Wicomico County Council in District 1, which encompasses northern parts of Wicomico County and the city of Salisbury. She was the first African-American woman to serve on the county council. Sample-Hughes was also appointed as a member of the Maryland Commission on Correctional Standards, which she served as the vice chair of from 2010 to 2014.
Maryland House of Delegates
In 2014, Sample-Hughes was encouraged by incumbent state delegate Rudolph C. Cane to run for the Maryland House of Delegates in District 37A, succeeding him as his health declined. She ran unopposed in the primary and general elections after Cane withdrew his candidacy. Sample-Hughes was sworn into the Maryland House of Delegates on January 14, 2015. She served as a member of the Health and Government Operations Committee until 2022, when she was moved to the Economic Matters Committee. Since 2019, Sample-Hughes has been the only Democrat and the only person of color to represent the Eastern Shore of Maryland in the Maryland General Assembly.
From 2018 to 2019, Sample-Hughes served as the president of the Maryland Women's Legislative Caucus, becoming the first African-American to chair the caucus. In this position, she supported legislation to support female veterans and the elderly, and victims of workplace harassment and rape.
In September 2019, House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones named Sample-Hughes as speaker pro tempore, succeeding her following her election as speaker. She was elected to this position by the Maryland House of Delegates in January 2020. In May 2023, following votes against several bills backed by Democratic leaders of the legislature, Jones said she would not renominate Sample-Hughes as speaker pro tempore during the 2024 legislative session, instead nominating delegate Dana Stein. Jones said that the decision to select a different speaker pro tempore was not a personal decision, but instead part of a general post-election restructuring of leadership. She had also offered Sample-Hughes a senior leadership position, which she declined.
In the 2020 presidential election, Sample-Hughes voted as an elector in Maryland's 1st congressional district.
Political positions
Sample-Hughes has described herself as a "traditional Democrat", and has pointed to a divide between herself and progressive members of the legislature. She has cited Barbara Mikulski as her political role model.
Education
Sample-Hughes supports increased funding for school construction projects and increasing personnel pay. She has expressed concerns about Eastern Shore counties' ability to implement the Blueprint for Maryland's Future reforms, which she supports.
In 2015, Sample-Hughes expressed apprehension with proposal to adopt an elected school board in Wicomico County, saying that she worried that the school board would not accurately represent the county's diversity.
During the 2023 legislative session, she voted against a bill that would require teachers to go through virtual education training. Sample-Hughes supported an unsuccessful amendment to the bill that would have allowed Eastern Shore school systems to continue using a private company for contracting its virtual education services. She also introduced legislation to increase financial literacy classes in schools.