U.S. Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger says he will retire from Congress after 11 terms
BALTIMORE -- U.S. Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger is calling it a career, announcing on Friday that he's opted not to run for re-election to Congress this year after serving 21 years, our media partner The Baltimore Banner reports.
"This election, my name will not be on the ballot," Ruppersberger said in a video posted online Friday. "I've decided to retire to spend more time with my family."
Ruppersberger's career in public service started decades ago as a seasonal police officer and lifeguard in Ocean City, and continued into the courtroom as a prosecutor. Later he entered politics as a council member and county executive in Baltimore County and eventually went to Congress for eleven terms.
Ruppersberger's retirement had been speculated and rumored for some time. He jokingly acknowledged it himself when his colleague U.S. Rep. John Sarbanes announced his own political retirement.
"We were all shocked," Ruppersberger told The Baltimore Banner in October. "I thought he was coming over to ask me if I was leaving."
Ruppersberger represents Maryland's 2nd Congressional District, which, as currently configured, encompasses most of Carroll County, a large portion of Baltimore County and dips into north-central Baltimore City.
Already, one politician has signaled an interest in running for the seat: Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr., a Democrat from Millers Island in the southeast part of the county.
"If there's the right opportunity to expand and elevate the work here in Baltimore County, that is something we would take a very serious look at," Olszewski said in October. Olszweski has also opened a campaign account to explore a Congressional run.
Ruppersberger grew up in Baltimore and graduated from City College before heading to the University of Maryland, College Park, where he played lacrosse. He earned a law degree at the University of Baltimore and worked as an assistant state's attorney.
A near-fatal car crash and lifesaving care at the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center inspired Ruppersberger to support quality healthcare by running for public office.
Ruppersberger was elected to the Baltimore County Council in 1985 and re-elected in 1989. He then was elected Baltimore County executive in 1994 and re-elected in 1998.
When his terms as executive were up, Ruppersberger won election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2002.
For that 2022 election, Ruppersberger legally changed his name — Charles Albert Ruppersberger III — to ensure that his longtime nickname of "Dutch" could appear not only on campaign bumper stickers, but also on the ballot.
How did he get that nickname? According to an article in The Hill, when Ruppersberger was born, the doctor told his father, "You have a big, blond Dutchman." The nickname stuck.
In Congress, Ruppersberger became the first freshman lawmaker to be appointed to the House Intelligence Committee, in part because at the time his district was home to the National Security Agency.
Ruppersberger rose to become the top-ranking Democrat on the committee and was part of the "gang of eight," top lawmakers who are briefed on the most highly sensitive intelligence matters. It was in that role that Ruppersberger was one of the few people to see photographs of the body of Osama bin Laden, the al-Qaeda leader who was killed by U.S. Navy Seals in 2011.
Ruppersberger later moved to the powerful House Appropriations Committee.
Ruppersberger chairs the U.S. Naval Academy's Board of Visitors and continues to advocate for Shock Trauma, including serving on its board.
With Ruppersberger's retirement, three of Maryland's eight seats in the House of Representatives will be open for this election year. In addition to Sarbanes' departure from the 3rd District, 6th District U.S. Rep. David Trone is not running for re-election as he attempts to win an open seat in the U.S. Senate created by the retirement of Ben Cardin.
This article will be updated.
By Pamela Wood and Emily Sullivan, The Baltimore Banner