Deb Rey (born July 15, 1967) is a former American politician who represented District 29B in the

Maryland House of Delegates The Maryland House of Delegates is the lower house of the Maryland General Assembly, legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland. It consists of 141 delegates elected from 47 districts. The House of Delegates Chamber is in the Maryland State House ...

from 2015 to 2019. In November 2018, she was unseated by Democratic challenger, and former Army Ranger, Brian Crosby.

Early life, education, and early career

Rey attended Affton High School in

Affton, Missouri Affton is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in south St. Louis County, Missouri, United States, near St. Louis. The population was 20,417 at the 2020 United States census. Geography According to the United State ...

. She graduated from

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...

with a B.S. in Political Science in 1989. She earned a M.S. in Management from

Webster University Webster University is a private university with its main campus in Webster Groves, Missouri, United States. It has multiple branch locations across the United States and countries across Europe, Asia, and Africa. The university has an alumni net ...

in 2004. Rey served in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

from 1989 to 2009, achieving the rank of major (O-4). After retiring from the Air Force, she moved to

St. Mary's County, Maryland St. Mary's County, established in 1637, is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the population was 113,777. Its county seat is Leonardtown. The name is in honor of Mary, the mother of Jesus. St. Mary's Count ...

. She was elected president of the Republican Women of St. Mary's County in 2010, and president of the Republican Club of St. Mary's County in 2012. She was selected as the St. Mary's County Republican Woman of the Year for 2013.

Maryland House of Delegates

Elections

Rey was elected in 2014 to the

from District 29B, which covers the southern part of St. Mary's County. She defeated John Bohanon by 76 votes. Rey sought re-election in 2018, but was defeated by Brian M. Crosby by 942 votes. She again sought re-election in 2022, but was again defeated by Crosby.

Committee assignments, leadership positions and caucus memberships

*Judiciary Committee (2015–2019), Deputy Minority Whip (2018–2019) *Juvenile law Subcommittee (2015–2019) *Criminal Justice Subcommittee (2017–2019) *Chair, St. Mary's County Delegation (2016–2019) *Commissioner, Oyster Advisory Commission (2016–2019) *Tri-County Council (2015–2019) *Maryland Veterans Caucus (2015–2019) *Maryland Military Installation Legislative Caucus (2017–2019) *Women Legislators of Maryland (2015–2019)

Personal life

Rey and her husband, Jeff Lathrop, have two children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rey, Deb Republican Party members of the Maryland House of Delegates 1967 births Living people Women state legislators in Maryland 21st-century American women politicians Politicians from St. Louis 21st-century members of the Maryland General Assembly