Del. Rachel Muñoz, a Republican representing Pasadena and portions of northeastern Anne Arundel County, will step down from the legislature at the start of next year.

In a Sept. 4 letter to Gov. Wes Moore, Muñoz said she will resign Jan. 1, 2025, to “spend more time with my young family.”

“I pray that you and the legislature pass laws to keep Marylanders safe and prosperous in the coming years,” she wrote in the letter.

Muñoz, 37, has been a delegate since November 2021. Former Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, appointed her to fill the remaining term of former Del. Michael E. Malone, who resigned his District 33 seat in August 2021 to become an Anne Arundel County Circuit Court judge.

In 2022, Muñoz ran for election to one of three District 31 seats in the House of Delegates and won.

In a text message to Fox45 News, Muñoz, a cancer survivor who is now pregnant, said her decision to resign stemmed in part from health concerns: “We’re expected a health[y] baby boy in November, and I have confidence that my replacement in the legislature will do their best to represent District 31,” she said.

Muñoz was raised in Severna Park and graduated from Severna Park High School. She received a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Maryland in 2009 and a law degree from the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law. She has five children, according to her state biography.

Since 2021, Muñoz has been on the House Judiciary Committee. In 2023, she began sitting on the Joint Committee on the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area.

State law requires the Anne Arundel County Republican Central Committee to nominate someone to fill the vacancy and submit their name to the governor for appointment to serve out the remainder of Muñoz’s term, which ends in January 2027.

A representative on the committee did not respond to a request for comment.