Jay Jalisi

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Hasan "Jay" Jalisi (born November 17, 1965) is an American politician who served as a Democratic member of the Maryland House of Delegates for District 10 in Baltimore County from 2015 to 2023. In 2022, he ran for Maryland Senate but finished second in the Democratic primary to Benjamin Brooks.

Early life and education
Jalisi was born in Hyderabad, then part of Pakistan. His family was from India and later lived in Pakistan and Bangladesh, where his father taught at a medical school. He finished high school in Karachi and earned an M.D. from the University of Karachi in 1990. He moved to the United States, worked at Harvard University and the Cleveland Clinic, and in 1997 came to Baltimore to attend Johns Hopkins University, where he earned a Master of Public Health in international health systems in 1998. While at Hopkins, he began real estate investing, using family funds to buy a foreclosed apartment building. He co-authored two medical textbooks on ear, nose, and throat diseases but eventually left medicine to focus on real estate.

Political career
Jalisi filed to run for the Maryland House of Delegates in December 2013. He won the Democratic primary in 2014 with 17.4% of the vote, finishing second to Adrienne A. Jones, and won the general election with 28.7%. He was sworn in January 14, 2015. For a time he was the only Muslim in the Maryland General Assembly.

In 2020, Jalisi sought the special and regular elections for Maryland’s 7th congressional district but was defeated in the Democratic primary by Kweisi Mfume. In 2022, he ran for Maryland State Senate to replace retiring Senator Delores G. Kelley but finished second in the Democratic primary to Ben Brooks.

Controversies and issues
In February 2015 Jalisi’s daughter filed for a restraining order against him; a consent agreement prevented him from visiting his daughter for a year. In 2019, an ethics investigation found that he subjected staffers to bullying and verbal abuse over several years. He was reprimanded by the House in March 2020. He has faced other legal and financial matters, including a 2014 fine for misusing campaign funds and a separate $15,000 fine for lead paint hazards in rental properties. A 2021 tenant lawsuit against his property management firm claimed failures to fix leaks, which allegedly caused injuries. In 2020 a court ordered him to pay more than $19,500 in back pay to a former legislative aide.

Legislation and positions
In 2016 Jalisi helped pass a bill to limit strip-searches and shackling of youths, creating a task force to review Juvenile Services policies; the bill became law in May 2016. In 2017 the Maryland League of Conservation Voters gave him a 71% score. In 2021 he voted for a measure requiring lawmakers to live in the district they represent. In 2022 he proposed a bill to prevent car insurance companies from using a person’s credit score to set premiums, but the bill was rejected.