Distinguished Speaker Ellen Sauerbrey
40 Years Fighting for Maryland Republicans
The Montgomery County Republican Party (MCGOP) will offer a tribute to Ambassador Ellen Sauerbrey at the February 23rd 2019 MCGOP Convention in Gaithersburg for her four decades as a standard bearer for Republican efforts and values in Maryland. We hope you will join us and pay tribute to her life long work in support of the Republican Party and paving the way for Republican Women to serve in leadership positions in the Maryland General Assembly.
Ambassador Sauerbrey will speak at the 2019 MCGOP Convention’s General Session, and a special VIP Lunch in her honor will follow. Early Bird pricing for the VIP Lunch and Breakfast events has been extended to February 1, 2019.
A native Marylander, Ambassador Sauerbrey was born in Baltimore, MD and graduated from Western Maryland College (now McDaniel College). Before entering politics in 1978, when she was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates, she taught biology. She served in the Maryland House of Delegates from 1978 to 1994. From 1986 to 1994, Sauerbrey served as Minority Leader in the Maryland House of Delegates, the first female to hold this position in Maryland history.
Serving on the House of Delegates Committees for Appropriations and Ways and Means, Leader Sauerbrey was a strong advocate for job growth policies in Maryland as well as policies to limit the size and expansion of state government.
She ran for Governor of Maryland twice, winning 49.8% of the vote in the controversial 1994 election. In 1990 Sauerbrey was elected as National Chairman of the American Legislative Exchange Council. And in 2001, President George W. Bush nominated her to be the Representative to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. There, Ambassador Sauerbrey focused on three issues: education for women, the importance of empowering women economically and political, and the protection of life.
President George W. Bush later nominated Ambassador Sauerbrey to serve as Assistant Secretary of State, for the Bureau for Population, Refugees, and Migration. In 2013, Ambassador Sauerbrey was inducted into the Maryland Women’s Hall of Fame. She is a strong and vocal supporter for Republican candidates for office from Maryland and has been involved in numerous Maryland and national organizations including:
- Maryland Business for Responsive Government, Chair
- Council on Economic Education in Maryland
- American Alliance for Better Schools, Director
- Franklin Square Hospital, Trustee
- Maryland Federation of Republican Women, Vice President
- Better Business Bureau, Director
- United Citizens for Maryland’s Future, Honorary Chair
- Baltimore County Federation of Republican Women, President
- Maryland Society for Multiple Sclerosis, Secretary
- Disabled American Veterans, Legislative Advisory Committee
- National Conference of State Legislatures