Jessica Fitzwater is the Frederick County Executive.

She previously represented District 4 on the Frederick County Council, where she championed numerous pieces of legislation that were enacted on a bipartisan basis, including: repealing the County’s English-only Ordinance, improving affordable workforce housing by strengthening the Housing Initiative Fund, creating a Human Trafficking Task Force, addressing anti-discrimination, and establishing a Climate Emergency Mobilization Work Group.

When elected to the first Frederick County Council under charter government in 2014, Jessica was one of only two women under the age of 40 serving in county elected office in the entire state of Maryland. She is a graduate of Emerge Maryland, a prestigious political training program for Democratic women, and she was named one of the Daily Record’s Leading Women in 2015.

Jessica taught music at Oakdale Elementary School for 17 years. She served on the Board of Directors of the Frederick County Teachers Association and served as an elected delegate to the Maryland State Education Association and National Education Association Representative Assemblies. A lifelong musician and supporter of the arts, Jessica plays violin and has performed for many years with the Frederick Symphony Orchestra. She served on the Board of Directors of the Frederick Symphony Orchestra and Frederick Arts Council.

Jessica grew up in Smithsburg, Maryland, and is a proud graduate of public schools. She earned her undergraduate degree in music from St. Mary’s College of Maryland and her Master’s degree in Educational Leadership from Hood College. She is a widow and the mother of two children, Jonah and Jane. She lives in the City of Frederick.