Tributes pour in for former Dist. 14 state legislator 

Karen Montgomery of Brookeville died last month aged 90, officials say 

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August 6, 2026 11:50 a.m. | Updated: August 6, 2026 11:55 a.m.

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Karen Montgomery, the Brookeville resident who represented legislative District 14 for more than a decade in the Maryland General Assembly, died last month, according to statements from officials who knew her. She was 90. 

Born in New York, Montgomery completed her undergraduate education at Baltimore County’s Towson University and later earned a Master of Fine Arts from George Washington University in Washington, D.C. She spent much of her career in the nonprofit sector, including a five-year stint as the Olney Theatre Center’s director of development. 

Montgomery, a Democrat, was first elected in 2002 to represent District 14, which extends from Silver Spring north along the county’s eastern boundary to include Burtonsville, Damascus, Laytonsville and Olney.  

She served two terms in the House of Delegates before moving to the state Senate following the 2010 election, when she narrowly ousted then-state Sen. Rona Kramer in the Democratic primary. Montgomery won re-election to a second term in 2014, but resigned roughly a year later after macular degeneration left her unable to drive at night. 

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As a state legislator, Montgomery championed environmental causes, leading a successful push for a two-year moratorium on hydraulic fracking in Maryland. A mother to three children, including one son with autism, she also advocated for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. 

“As someone who also shares the experience of parenting a child with an intellectual disability, I felt a strong connection with Karen,” County Executive Marc Elrich (D), who has a son with Down Syndrome, wrote in a statement Tuesday. “Her empathy, her honesty, and her steadfast belief that government has a responsibility to uplift every family made her a trusted ally and a source of strength.” 

District 14 Del. Anne Kaiser (D), who won election to the state House the same year as Montgomery, told Bethesda Today on Wednesday her former colleague “always pushed hard on everything” — a trait Kaiser attributed to Montgomery’s years spent fighting for her son’s educational access. 

Montgomery was a good sport about Kaiser’s decision to back incumbent Kramer in 2010, Kaiser said. She recalled a dinner at Olney Ale House following that year’s Democratic primary, after which Montgomery turned to the server and quipped “Anne’s paying!” 

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“After that, she never held a grudge,” Kaiser said.

In a statement posted to social media Tuesday, District 14 Sen. Craig Zucker — who succeeded Montgomery in the senate following her resignation — said the late official “helped me get to where I am today.” He noted her support for funding the Brookeville Bypass, which the state in October 2023 dedicated in Montgomery’s honor. 

“She was honest and had a big heart,” Zucker wrote. “I will miss her terribly.” 

Montgomery was preceded in death by her husband, Harry, who Kaiser said was a near-constant presence in their shared District 14 office at the state House. He died in 2021, also at the age of 90. 

“They were great partners,” Kaiser said. “It seems like most people’s marriages have a few more cracks in it than theirs did.” 

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Following her retirement from public office, Montgomery continued to serve on the board of directors for the Montgomery Village-based nonprofit organization Community Services for Autistic Adults and Children. 

“Together with her husband, she was the loving parent of a CSAAC participant, bringing both personal understanding and passionate advocacy to our mission,” the organization wrote in a statement Tuesday. “Her legacy will live on in the people she served, the families she supported and the organization she helped strengthen.” 

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Originally published at Bethesdamagazine