Dylan Diggs was raised from birth in Mount Airy, Maryland. He stands on the shoulders of his parents, Eric and Denise, who instilled a spirit of hard work and curiosity that drives him today. Eric and Denise grew up and met in Baltimore in the 1950s and 1960s.
Eric and Denise chose to make a home in Frederick County in the 1980s when they moved to Mount Airy. There they raised Dylan and have lived there ever since. Denise has been an actress since she was young. Mostly a stage actress, you can find her in well-known Maryland TV such as The Wire and The Corner. She now teaches acting in Baltimore and Washington, DC. Since moving to Frederick, Eric has been a small business owner based in Frederick, focusing on printing and graphic design
Dylan is a graduate of Twin Ridge Elementary, New Market Middle and Linganore High schools. He studied government, international relations and history at Johns Hopkins University, where he received a Bachelor’s in political science. Dylan went on to get his Masters in Government from Georgetown University, with a focus on democracy and governance, studying how democratic institutions should operate in concert with the community. At Georgetown, Dylan met the love of his life, Samira. They married in 2015, moved back to Frederick in 2016, starting in Ballenger Creek and now living in Adamstown. Here they raise their three sons.
Dylan’s professional life has been focused on advancing democratic change and human rights around the world. For nine years out of graduate school, he worked at the International Republican Institute (IRI), an organization created by President Ronald Reagan to support persons around the world to understand and advance representative democracy in countries that are beginning the democratic experiment. Dylan’s is an evaluation specialist, where he develops and analyzes metrics that determine if this work is conducted efficiently and effectively.
Outside of his international work, Dylan has been dedicated to public service to the community here at home as well. After over 200 years of operating as a democratic republic, the United States has a lot of work to do. That work begins here in Frederick. Dylan has been involved in political life since his days in Linganore, where he went door-to-door in local campaigns, and he’s been working to put Republicans in office ever since. In 2008, Dylan worked in the headquarters for the McCain-Palin campaign to prevent Barack Obama from winning office. He tried again in 2012, working for Governor Mitt Romney in the general election.
Dylan returned to Frederick in 2016 to build a family. Samira teaches social studies at Linganore High School with some of Dylan’s same high school teachers. The lived in Ballenger Creek for four years before moving to Adamstown where they are now raising their three sons.
Dylan wants to make a difference in the community. No matter what happens in DC or Annapolis, policy has the most impact at the community level: it begins with Winchester Hall. Here in Frederick, Dylan is the president of the Frederick County Republican Club after serving as the vice-president of their Board of Governors in the previous term. He has also sought to use his experience to help his community by serving on the Frederick County Charter Commission, which sought to revise and better the Frederick County Government Charter, and the Frederick County Redistricting Commission.
All his life, Dylan has been a conservative. He recognizes that government, though it might dominate headlines, it should not dominate peoples’ lives. There are far more important institutions: families, church, businesses, and community groups. Good people and strong families, these have made Frederick great since 1748. It is these institutions that are the seeds of opportunity. The role of elected officials must be to make sure that government gets out of the way as much as possible so that these other institutions are empowered and truly build our community.
Other History
- President, Republican Club of Frederick County, 2021
- Vice-President, Republican Club of Frederick County, 2018-2020
- Frederick County Redistricting Commission Member
- Frederick County Charter Review Commission Member
- Vice-President, Ballenger Creek Meadows Home Owner’s Association, 2018-2021
Dylan Diggs for County Council 