DeBoy, Malone Wont Run For Re-Election

Dels. Steve DeBoy and Jim Malone say this term in the House of Delegates will be their last.

In separate interviews, the two Democrats who represent the Catonsville and Arbutus areas said they have decided not run for a fourth and fifth term respectively.

Malone, in a brief interview, confirmed he was retiring but said he would make a more formal announcement soon.

Malone, elected in 1994, is a retired fire fighter and vice chairman of the House of Delegates Environmental Matters Committee.

DeBoy, who is finishing his third term, said redistricting and political changes in the House of Delegates were two factors in his decision.

"The House of Delegates is going more liberal and I'm a middle of the road, moderate Democrat," DeBoy said. "You start to feel you're being marginalized. You just can't stop some of this stuff."

DeBoy, a retired police officer, was elected in 2002 and is a member of the House Appropriations Committee.

DeBoy said it's not a "knee-jerk reaction with me. This has been a very thoughtful deliberative process for me."

Some of the issues that concerned DeBoy was the recent passage of the repeal of the death penalty and the recent gun control law.

DeBoy said both were particularly tough for him.

"I think we're going to wish that we still had the death penalty on the books," DeBoy said. "I hope I am wrong but I think we're going to have another Beltway Sniper or Newton or Aurora or a couple of officers being killed in the line of duty."

Both DeBoy and Malone said they might run for office in the future—perhaps 2018.