Jessica Fitzwater
American politician (born 1983)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jessica E. Fitzwater (born December 26, 1983)[1] is an American politician and educator currently serving as the Frederick County Executive in Maryland, a position she has held since December 2022. Prior to her election as executive, she represented District 4 on the Frederick County Council from 2014 to 2022. During her tenure in local government, she has focused on legislation regarding workforce housing, immigrant affairs, and labor standards. A former music teacher and violinist, Fitzwater was recognized as the National Education Association's Political Activist of the Year in 2014.
Jessica Fitzwater | |
|---|---|
Fitzwater in 2023 | |
| 2nd County Executive of Frederick County | |
| Assumed office December 5, 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Jan Gardner |
| Personal details | |
| Born | December 26, 1983 Smithsburg, Maryland, U.S. |
| Party | Democratic |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | St. Mary's College of Maryland (B.A.) Hood College (M.S.) |
Early life and education
Born in Smithsburg, Maryland, Fitzwater has lived in the state her entire life.[2] She grew up in Smithsburg, where she was influenced by her father, a musician, and began playing music as a child.[3][4] Her primary instrument is the violin, which she started playing in the fifth grade.[4] Her mother is a retired special education teacher.[4]
Fitzwater earned a B.A. in music from St. Mary's College of Maryland in 2005.[2] She completed a M.S. in educational leadership at Hood College in 2010.[2] In 2013, she completed Emerge Maryland, a training program designed to prepare Democratic women for political office.[2]
Career
From 2005 to 2022, Fitzwater was a music teacher at Oakdale Elementary School in Frederick County Public Schools.[2] Her advocacy work in education was recognized in 2014 when she was named the National Education Association's Political Activist of the Year.[3] She was also active in labor leadership, serving on the Board of Directors for the Frederick County Teachers Association from 2011 to 2014.[2]
Fitzwater has been a violinist with the Frederick Symphony Orchestra since 2005 and served as the secretary of the orchestra's board of directors from 2006 to 2012.[2]
Fitzwater was first elected to the Frederick County Council in 2014 to represent District 4, holding the seat from December 1, 2014, until December 5, 2022.[2] She faced no opposition in the Democratic primary elections for either of her council terms.[5]
During her tenure on the council, Fitzwater championed the repeal of the county's English-only ordinance.[5] She played a role in creating the Frederick County Immigrant Affairs Commission and served as a member of the Frederick County Human Trafficking Task Force from 2016 to 2018.[2][6] Additionally, she sponsored legislation focused on expanding affordable workforce housing options.[5]
Frederick County Executive
During the 2022 Maryland county executive elections, Fitzwater launched a campaign for Frederick County Executive to replace the incumbent Jan Gardner, who was term-limited.[7] She secured the Democratic nomination by winning a three-way primary with 58 percent of the vote.[7] In the general election, she defeated Republican state senator Michael Hough by a margin of 989 votes, capturing 50.4 percent of the total vote against his 49.46 percent.[8] She was sworn in on December 5, 2022, becoming only the second County Executive in Frederick County's history.[2][8]
As County Executive, Fitzwater has pursued initiatives to address local housing and economic needs. She announced plans to appraise county-owned land to identify opportunities for affordable housing development.[9] During the 2025 U.S. federal government shutdown, she implemented expanded health benefits and increased the minimum wage for full-time county employees to $21 per hour.[9] Her administration also approved regulations for data centers, which expanded approved land for data center development to over 2,600 acres.[10] In January 2025, Fitzwater announced the county's intention to intervene in the state approval proceedings for the Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project (MPRP).[11]
In October 2025, Fitzwater announced she was running for re-election in the 2026 Maryland county executive elections.[12]