Blue state residents 'fleeing in droves' after ‘insane’ progressive takeover, says top state attorney
A top state attorney in Democrat-controlled Maryland says he has had enough and is throwing in the towel after saying the Old Line State has suffered an "insane" "ultra-progressive" takeover.
In an interview with Fox News Digital, Haven Shoemaker, state attorney for Maryland’s Carroll County, said that after decades in public service, he is "sick to death" of the policies that "emanate" from the state capital in Annapolis. He said he is especially disgusted with Maryland’s "sanctuary" policies and the high taxes he said are being levied in part to pay for more services for illegal immigrants.
"Maryland has become California on the Chesapeake," said Shoemaker. "It only gets worse. It's not getting better. And at some point, I just had to make a personal decision that it's time to throw in the towel and head for what I believe are greener pastures."
Shoemaker is not the only one. He said that he sees Marylanders giving up on the state "all the time."
"The State of Maryland has one of the worst outward migration numbers of any state in the country right now," he said. "So, I don't know who’s going to be the last to foot the bill for the profligate spending that Annapolis likes to engage in, but it's not going to be me, I can tell you that."
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Moore's office did not respond to Fox News Digital's questions. Fox News Digital also reached out to Maryland House Speaker Joseline A. Peña-Melnyk and Senate President Bill Ferguson for comment.
Born in Baltimore in the 1960s, Shoemaker spent three decades in local and state politics before taking the job as Carroll County’s top prosecutor in 2023. His career in public service includes seven years as mayor of Hampstead, Maryland, four years as a Carroll County commissioner and nine years in the Maryland House of Delegates. He rose to the role of House Minority Whip for the Maryland Republican Party.
Despite years deeply involved in state politics, Shoemaker said his decision to abandon Maryland has been a long time coming.
"I've been contemplating this move for a while, but the linchpin for me was this most recent legislative session where they essentially made Maryland a sanctuary state for illegal immigrants," he told Fox News Digital.
Earlier this year, the Maryland General Assembly passed an emergency measure to ban local and state law enforcement agencies from cooperating with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) through what is known as the 287(g) program. Maryland Democratic Gov. Wes Moore, whose name has been floated as a possible 2028 Democratic presidential candidate, signed the bill into law.
While emphasizing that law enforcement would continue cooperating with ICE on deporting individuals who "pose a risk to public safety," Moore lauded the bill, saying, "We will not allow untrained, unqualified and unaccountable agents to deputize our brave local law enforcement officers," according to WYPR.
While signing the measure, Moore stressed his view that "Maryland is a community of immigrants," saying, "It is not our weakness, it's our strength."
Shoemaker, meanwhile, said that Maryland’s sanctuary-style policies are "just part of the problem."
"In addition to that, their tax policy here is horrendous," he said. He pointed to how state leaders raised taxes in Maryland last year by $1.6 billion.
The tax raise was passed by the State Assembly and approved by Democratic Gov. Wes Moore as part of a $67 billion state budget in 2025. The raise was part of a plan to address roughly a $3.3 billion budget deficit. Maryland’s budget is relatively large compared to other states, despite the state ranking 18th in population and 42nd in land size.
Shoemaker said that state leaders are "already looking at a structural deficit going into next year's budget of another billion and a half or so." He asserted the "handwriting is on the wall" that "Maryland politicians are beholden to their ultra-progressive base."
In the end, Shoemaker said that he has finally decided to escape to the South and head for North Carolina.
"A lot of taxpayers from across the State of Maryland are fleeing in droves," he said. He added a warning to Moore and other Maryland leaders: "If you want to staunch the bleeding that's occurring, maybe you should rethink your policies."