Ryan Trout hopes to help working families in bid for House of Delegates District 3A

Jan. 30--Ryan Trout named his prior post as State Sen. Ron Young's chief of staff as the inspiration for his own political aspirations.

Now, those aspirations have put him in direct competition with Young's wife, incumbent Delegate Karen Lewis Young (D), as both vie for the two seats representing District 3A in the Maryland House of Delegates. Other candidates in the 2018 race as of Monday included incumbent Democrat Carol Krimm and Republican James Dvorak.

Trout, also a Democrat, said he has maintained good relationships with both incumbents, notifying them of his intentions before officially entering the race. Though the three share similar viewpoints on many key political issues, Trout framed his candidacy as offering a new voice for Frederick.

It will be his second bid for elected office. In 2010, he unsuccessfully ran for Maryland House of Delegates District 4A.

Trout, 32, highlighted his subsequent professional and personal experiences as informing his understanding of the challenges faced by Frederick's working families.

The decade he spent working for his family's restaurant, Trout's Towne Restaurant in Woodsboro, exposed him to the hard work of the service industry and the struggles of his co-workers.

"It's an opportunity to talk directly to your community," he said. "For me, it was a great experience. But I also saw the reality of some of my co-workers who were trying to raise a family on a dishwasher's salary."

His former post as chairman of Frederick County'sAffordable Housing Council offered insight into the affordable housing shortage. And as a millennial, he's watched many of his peers find work in Frederick while living outside the county because they cannot afford to live closer.

As a father to two young children, he's experienced firsthand the crippling cost of child care.

As such, he named helping low- and middle-income families achieve financial stability as a top priority if elected. As examples, he named increasing the county's affordable housing stock -- which he defined as places affordable for residents who earn 30 to 100 percent of the area median income -- and ensuring fair wages as ways to accomplish this.

Education from "cradle to career" also ranked high on Trout's platform, including capital funding through the state budget for Frederick County Public Schools. Rising school construction fees combined with increasing enrollment have led to overcrowding at many of the district's schools, exacerbating the need for new facilities.

"We shouldn't have elementary school students spending their academic career in a portable classroom," he said.

College and trade school were also key to creating the high-paying, skilled labor economy he envisioned for Frederick. Trout graduated from Mount St. Mary's University with a bachelor's degree in political science and is currently pursuing two master's degrees, in business administration and public policy, at the University of Maryland.

He works as the legislative liaison and public information officer for Baltimore city's Department of General Services.

Though he acknowledged his stance on many political issues aligned with the Democratic Party, Trout pledged to work with the rest of the county's delegation regardless of political ideology, to best represent county residents in Annapolis.

"Part of the job is recognizing that Frederick County is a large and diverse county," he said. "The delegation is going to reflect that ... but we're all in this together."

District 3A includes the city of Frederick and surrounding areas. Delegates serve four-year terms and earn $50,330 annually.

The 2018 primary election is June 26, and the general election follows on Nov. 6.

Follow Nancy Lavin on Twitter: @NancyKLavin.

___

(c)2018 The Frederick News-Post (Frederick, Md.)

Visit The Frederick News-Post (Frederick, Md.) at www.fredericknewspost.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.