Johnny Ray Salling

Salling was born in Baltimore, Maryland on October 31, 1961, where he graduated from Sparrows Point High School. In 1979, he joined the United States Army, serving as a combat engineer until 1981. Upon his return to the United States, he worked as a steel worker for LaFarge of North America at the Bethlehem Steel Mill in Sparrows Point, Maryland for more than 30 years, where he gained experience as a union representative for the United Steelworkers of America union.

In September 2013, Salling filed to run for Maryland Senate, seeking to succeed Democratic state senator Norman Stone, who had announced his retirement from the General Assembly. He says that the closing of the Sparrows Point mill in 2012 moved him to run for public office. Stone endorsed his challenger, state delegate Johnny Olszewski, during the general election. Salling defeated Olszewski in the general election, garnering 47.9 percent of the vote compared to Olszewski's 44.7 percent.

Salling was sworn into the Maryland Senate on January 14, 2015. He was a member of the Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs Committee from 2015 to 2019, afterwards serving as a member of the Budget and Taxation Committee. In April 2017, Salling joined the Reform on Tap task force, which was led by Comptroller Peter Franchot and sought to reform the state's regulations on the production and distribution of beer in the state.

In July 2019, Salling responded to a tweet about a request for an ethics investigation into U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar with "Get rid of this illegal know!!!!!" The Council on American–Islamic Relations called on Salling to apologize for the tweet or to resign. He deleted the tweet after speaking to The Baltimore Sun, denying having made the tweet and suggesting that he may have been hacked.

In August 2019, Salling announced his candidacy for Maryland's 2nd congressional district in the 2020 elections, seeking to take on incumbent Democrat Dutch Ruppersberger. He did not have to give up his state senate seat to run for Congress, as he was not up for reelection until 2022. Salling narrowly won the Republican nomination, earning 19.1 percent of the vote in the primary election. He was defeated by Ruppersberger in the general election, receiving 33 percent of the vote.

Maryland Matters has described Salling as a social conservative, but notes that he occasionally votes with Democrats on bills involving workers' rights and opportunities.

Environment

In 2018, the Maryland League of Conservation Voters gave Salling a score of 17 percent on its annual legislative scorecard – the lowest score in the Maryland Senate.

During a debate on a sweeping climate action bill in March 2021, Salling introduced an amendment that would lower the bill's pollution reduction goal from 60 percent to 50 percent, contending that it was too ambitious. The amendment was rejected by a vote of 15-31.

Immigration

Salling denounced an executive order issued by Baltimore County executive Kevin Kamenetz in April 2017 that formalized police policy on undocumented immigrants in the county, calling it "dangerous".

Marijuana

Salling says that he does not agree with the legalization of recreational marijuana, but he does accept that cannabis does have some medicinal benefits.

Policing

Salling supports providing police departments with additional funding and training and disagrees with calls to defund police departments and invest in community social services.

Transportation

In March 2024, following the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse, Salling and state senator Bryan Simonaire introduced a bill that would allow the governor to declare a year-long state of emergency after damage to critical infrastructure, though it would eliminate the authority to seize private property for government use, as now allowed under a state of emergency. The bill was withdrawn by Simonaire following discussions with the Moore administration.