Barrie Ciliberti (born July 27, 1936) is an American professor and politician. He is a professor at the University of Maryland University College and current Republican legislator in the Maryland House of Delegates, representing District 4. He previously represented District 39 in the House of Delegates from 1995 to 1999.
Early life and education Ciliberti was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he graduated from Friends Select School. He later attended Ursinus College, where he earned a B.A. degree in history in 1957; Georgetown University, where he earned a M.A. degree in history in 1960; and Catholic University, where he earned a Ph.D. degree in administration in 1975.
Ciliberti is married to his wife, Pam, and has five adult children. Outside of politics, he enjoys mountain climbing and spending time with his children. His family moved from Rockville to Urbana in the early 2000s.
Career Since 1965, Ciliberti has worked as an associate professor of education at Bowie State University.
In 1985, Ciliberti was appointed by President Ronald Reagan to a member of the National Graduate Fellows Program Fellowship Board for a six-year term. President Reagan also appointed Dr Ciliberti to serve as a member of the National Advisory Council on Adult Education. He has served as a guest lecturer for the U.S. Information Agency and a special assistant for ethnic affairs with the Republican National Committee.
In 1994, Ciliberti was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates in District 39, riding the Gingrich wave to victory. He lost re-election to a second term in 1998, losing to Democrats Charles Barkley, Paul Carlson, and Joan F. Stern.
Ciliberti unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 1996, losing to incumbent U.S. Representative Connie Morella in the Republican primary election.
Dr. Ciliberti has served two civilian tours in Iraq working with the United States Department of State. On his first term, he worked with the United States Embassy in Baghdad on election security in advance of the historic elections in Iraq on January 30, 2005. Dr. Ciliberti's second tour was 255 miles north of Baghdad in the city of Mosul, Iraq where he served as the Senior Governance Advisor for Ninewah Province where he helped build the governance capacity of Provincial and city leaders throughout Ninewah Province.
In 2014, Ciliberti unsuccessfully ran for the Maryland House of Delegates in District 4, receiving 14.0 percent of the vote in the Republican primary.
In January 2015, the Frederick County Republican Central Committee recommended Ciliberti to replace Kelly Schulz in the Maryland House of Delegates after she was appointed to serve in Governor-elect Larry Hogan's cabinet as the Secretary of Labor. The Carroll County Republican Central Committee also voted to recommend Ciliberti, in addition to Jason Miller and Ken Timmerman, to fill the vacancy. Hogan appointed Ciliberti to the House of Delegates on February 3, 2015.
In the legislature Ciliberti was sworn into the Maryland House of Delegates to represent District 39 on January 11, 1995. During his legislative career in the Maryland General Assembly, he became known for his opposition to mandatory volunteerism and his stance against aggressive driving. He was a member of the Environmental Matters Committee.
Ciliberti was again sworn into the Maryland House of Delegates to represent District 4 on February 4, 2015 after paying campaign finance infractions for missing campaign finance reports. He was a member of the Appropriations Committee from 2015 to 2018, afterwards serving on the Environment and Transportation Committee until 2025. During the 2026 legislative session, Ciliberti was a member of the Government, Labor, and Elections Committee.
Ciliberti was an early and enthusiastic supporter of Donald Trump, even when many in the Maryland Republican Party were keeping their distance. In 2016, Ciliberti ran to be a delegate to the Republican National Convention, pledged to Trump. He won the Republican primary with 15.4 percent of the vote. He ran again as an alternate delegate pledged to Trump in 2020, receiving 32.8 percent of the vote in the Republican primary.
Political positions Abortion Ciliberti supports the overturning of Roe v. Wade, saying that the issue of abortion should be left to the states.
During the 2015 legislative session, Ciliberti introduced legislation that would prohibit abortions past 20 weeks, excluding specific medical emergencies. The bill was re-introduced during the 2016 legislative session.
In September 2015, Ciliberti and state Senator Michael Hough wrote a letter to David Brinkley, the Maryland Secretary of Budget and Management, to push the state to eliminate funding for Planned Parenthood from the state's budget.
During the 2024 legislative session, Ciliberti introduced a bill that would require a 24-hour waiting period after a pregnant person receives a transabdominal ultrasound before a provider could perform an abortion.
Business In July 2015, the Maryland Business for Responsible Government gave Ciliberti a score of 86 percent in its annual legislative scorecard.
COVID-19 pandemic Ciliberti introduced legislation in the 2020 legislative session that would charge people who attack doctors or nurses with a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, a $5,000 fine, or both.
In April 2020, Ciliberti questioned the legality of the mask mandates implemented by an executive order issued by Governor Hogan, calling the mandates "draconian".
Education In April 2019, Ciliberti voted against the Blueprint for Maryland's Future. He was the only member of the Frederick County delegation to do so.
Environment In July 2015, the Maryland Business for Responsible Government gave Ciliberti a score of 50 percent in its annual legislative scorecard.
In April 2021, Ciliberti joined Democrats in the House Environment and Transportation Committee in voting in favor of the Climate Solutions Now Act of 2021.
Guns In March 2018, Ciliberti voted against a bill that would ban bump stocks, which passed the Maryland House of Delegates by a vote of 128-7. He was the only member of the Frederick County delegation to vote against the bill.
National politics In December 2019, Ciliberti called the first impeachment of Donald Trump an "attempted coup d'etat".
Election results +Maryland House of Delegates District 39 Republican Primary Election, 1994PartyNameVotesPercentRepublicanMathew Mossburg2,96724%RepublicanW. Raymond Beck2,47520%RepublicanBarrie S. Ciliberti2,45019%RepublicanPeter James1,52012%RepublicanDana S. Rawlings1,32011% +Maryland House of Delegates District 39 General Election, 1994PartyNameVotesPercentRepublicanMathew Mossburg13,11917%RepublicanW. Raymond Beck12,31116%RepublicanBarrie S. Ciliberti12,89716%DemocraticCharles E. Barkley12,13715%DemocraticAnise Key Brown10,98714%DemocraticAnthony J. Santangelo10,93914%IndependentPatricia Cummings6,4718% +Republican primary, Congress, Maryland 8th district, 1996PartyNameVotesPercentRepublicanConstance A. Morella28,81865%RepublicanBarrie S. Ciliberti11,84527%RepublicanJohn C. Webb Jr.2,7706%RepublicanLuis F. Columba6982% +Maryland House of Delegates District 39 Republican Primary Election, 1998PartyNameVotesPercentRepublicanBarrie S. Ciliberti2,87223%RepublicanWalter McKee2,72222%RepublicanMathew Mossburg2,49620%RepublicanPatricia Cummings2,18318%RepublicanRobert J. Smith2,18218% +Maryland House of Delegates District 39 General Election, 1998PartyNameVotesPercentDemocraticCharles E. Barkley17,02018%DemocraticPaul Carlson16,67018%DemocraticJoan F. Stern16,51518%RepublicanBarrie S. Ciliberti14,42016%RepublicanWalter McKee14,41216%RepublicanMathew Mossburg13,43915% +Maryland House of Delegates District 4 Republican Primary Election, 2014PartyNameVotesPercentRepublicanKathy Afzali9,44027.4%RepublicanKelly Schulz8,27424.0%RepublicanDavid E. Vogt III6,49918.9%RepublicanWendi W. Peters5,41715.7%RepublicanBarrie S. Ciliberti4,81614.0% + Delegates to the Republican National Convention, District 6, 2016PartyCandidateVotes%RepublicanWendell Beitzel (Trump)31,64717.2%RepublicanJoeylynn Hough (Trump)29,40215.9%RepublicanBarrie S. Ciliberti (Trump)28,36515.4%RepublicanNeil Parrott (Cruz)15,4398.4%RepublicanMichael Hough (Cruz)14,8098.0%RepublicanBrett Wilson (Cruz)13,8787.5%RepublicanJake Shade (Kasich)13,0367.1%RepublicanJason C. Buckel (Rubio)3,2911.8%RepublicanWilliam Joseph Wivell (Carson)3,1121.7%RepublicanDave Caporale (Rubio)3,0181.6%RepublicanMike McKay2,8321.5%RepublicanErich Bean (Rubio)2,3191.3%RepublicanLaura Gabrielle Lightstone (Carson)2,1971.2%RepublicanDoro Bush Koch (Bush)1,9991.1%RepublicanHenry M. Ramirez (Bush)1,7120.9%RepublicanMarc A. Antonetti (Fiorina)1,3200.7%RepublicanIgnacio E. Sanchez (Bush)1,1690.6%RepublicanRuth Marie Umbel (Christie)1,1310.6%RepublicanDaniel F. C. Crowley9970.5%RepublicanRobert Mitchell Wolfe (Fiorina)9810.5%RepublicanKimberly Euler7860.4%RepublicanCynthia Houser7710.4%RepublicanBilly Shreve7660.4%RepublicanLinda Lee Seibert6420.3%RepublicanSandra Marie Myers6230.3%RepublicanBilly Shreve7660.4%RepublicanScott L. Wolff6000.3%RepublicanRobert Schaefer5700.3%RepublicanJosephine J. Wang (Christie)5510.3%RepublicanPatricia A. Reilly5490.3%RepublicanRyan Richard Miner4710.3%RepublicanLaura Patallo Sanchez3780.2%RepublicanDonna Buser Wallizer3570.2%RepublicanTherese Marie Shaheen3460.2%RepublicanDarren Wigfield3360.2%RepublicanLawrence T. Di Rita2870.2%RepublicanMonica L. Stallworth2470.1%RepublicanEric Salzano1680.1%RepublicanWilliam S. Richbourg1350.1% +Maryland House of Delegates District 4 Republican Primary Election, 2018PartyNameVotesPercentRepublicanDan Cox7,72835.5%RepublicanJesse T. Pippy7,05232.4%RepublicanBarrie S. Ciliberti7,01832.2% +Maryland House of Delegates District 4 General Election, 2018PartyNameVotesPercentRepublicanDan Cox33,30320.6%RepublicanBarrie S. Ciliberti31,81719.7%RepublicanJesse T. Pippy31,07119.2%DemocraticLois Jarman22,80714.1%DemocraticYsela Bravo21,90113.6%DemocraticLois Jarman20,46212.7%N/AOther Write-Ins920.1% + Alternate Delegates to the Republican National Convention, District 6, 2020PartyCandidateVotes%RepublicanJerry DeWolf (Trump)31,64733.7%RepublicanLuanne Ruddell (Trump)29,40233.5%RepublicanBarrie S. Ciliberti (Trump)33,57332.8%
References
External links House of Delegates profile page