MARYLAND (WBFF) — Longtime resident and Carroll County State’s Attorney Haven Shoemaker believes Maryland is a lost cause, and after his term ends, he said he’s leaving the state.
“Wes Moore and the Democrats in the General Assembly, you’ve won. I’m leaving,” Shoemaker said.
Shoemaker says he’s lived in Maryland his whole life for 61 years. He’s worked in different roles in local and state offices, but says that once his term ends this December, he will not be renewing it and will move out of state to North Carolina.
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“The way I see it,” said Shoemaker. “Maryland’s kind of a lost cause at this point.”
Shoemaker pointed to several issues from this past legislative session that drove his decision.
Including the Youth Charging Reform Act, which ends automatic charging of 16-and 17-year-olds as adults for certain drug, assault, and gun offenses.
“It’s more criminal cobbling legislation that we see emanating from Annapolis every single year,” Shoemaker said.
As well as changes to immigration reform, including the Community Trust Act, which seeks to further limit ICE cooperation in Maryland.
Shoemaker also added the ban of the 287G program, which had allowed local law enforcement to collaborate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in identifying and detaining undocumented immigrants in detention centers, which was signed into law by Governor Wes Moore.
“They were just telltale signs that Maryland’s lost,” Shoemaker said.
Plus, the $1.6 billion dollars in new or increased taxes and fees enacted last year.
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“Maryland has gotten progressively more woke every single year,” Shoemaker said. “Their fiscal policies are awful. They’re taxing people to death. Car registration fees are through the roof. And, you know, this most recent session in Annapolis was really, you know, sealed my fate and has hastened my departure. Maryland has now become a sanctuary state. Even after jacking up taxes to the tune of what 1.6 billion dollars last year, we’re still looking at a structural deficit next year.”
Shoemaker says his message to the Governor and state officials: “I think that they need to take a strong and hard look at their policies, because I’m not the only one. People are leaving in droves, and it’s sad.”
As for now, Shoemaker says nothing will change his mind, “No, because we keep electing the type of folks that we elect here in Maryland, and they set spending policy, they set immigration policy, they set all the, you know, fees and taxes, all those things which are absolutely driving me out.”
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