Redistricting lawsuits

In 2012, Bouchat filed a lawsuit challenging the state's legislative redistricting plan, in which he pleaded to the Maryland Court of Appeals to establish a new legislative body that would have each county represented by two state senators and for the county's population to determine its number of state delegates, each belonging to a single-member district.^[23] The Court of Appeals issued an order upholding the state's redistricting plan, denying Bouchat's arguments against it.^[24] In January 2013, Bouchat appealed the case by filing a writ of certiorari to the Supreme Court of the United States.^[25] The Supreme Court denied the petition on April 15.^[26]

In early 2015, Bouchat filed a lawsuit in the Carroll County Circuit Court challenging the state's legislative redistricting plan, which was dismissed after the judge determined that the court did not have jurisdiction over the matter.^[8] In August 2015, Bouchat again filed a lawsuit challenging the state's legislative redistricting plan, blaming the composition of District 9A for his loss in the 2014 elections.^[11]

In the legislature

Bouchat was sworn into the Maryland House of Delegates on January 11, 2023.^[27] He is a member of the House Judiciary Committee.^[28] In March 2023, Bouchat said he did not plan to run for re-election in 2026.^[29]

In February 2023, Bouchat, a member of the Frederick County Delegation, said that he would not vote or make any motions during the delegation's weekly meetings. In an email to The Frederick News-Post, he said that delegation members who represent districts mostly in Washington or Carroll counties were in violation of a Maryland Supreme Court ruling if they voted in Frederick County Delegation meetings. Only 2.6 percent of District 5 residents, or about 3,500 people, live in Frederick County.^[30] In 1995, an opinion from the Attorney General of Maryland stated that county delegations are "not subject to the 'one-person/one-vote' requirement" of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.^[29]

In March 2023, Bouchat sent a letter to his House Republican colleagues in which he questioned their tactics during floor debates, asserting that they were being too performative during floor debates and urging them to "look inward for corrective measures that increase our future success rates". Later that week, six of the most vocal members of the House Republican Caucus released a letter criticizing Bouchat's comments, arguing that the party was able to reach its 50-seat minority in 2014 by speaking out against Democratic taxes and spending. Bouchat agreed that Republicans should contest Democrats in the 2026 legislative elections, but said "we need to stop annoying them" until then.^[5]

COVID-19 pandemic

In April 2020, Bouchat voted against closing the Northern Landfill in Westminster, Maryland for 15 days to reduce risk of spreading COVID-19.^[33] Later that month, he voted to reopen the landfill early with reduced hours and restrictions preventing residents outside the county from using it.^[34]

In June 2020, Bouchat attended and spoke at a Reopen Maryland rally in Westminster to protest the state's COVID-19 restrictions.^[35] At the rally, he suggested allowing businesses to set their own policies on when people need to wear masks.^[36] In July 2020, he wrote an op-ed for the Carroll County Times that questioned the value of wearing masks in public.^[37] His remarks on the COVID-19 pandemic were criticized by Robert Wack, the deputy health officer for the Carroll County Health Department, who wrote in a letter to the Carroll County Times later that month that Bouchat's "dangerously ignorant opinions are a direct threat to the health and well-being of the county".^[38]

In August 2021, Bouchat suggested that the Board of Commissioners boycott the annual Maryland Association of Counties Summer Conference over its masking recommendations, saying that he had cancelled his attendance to the event after learning about the policy.^[39] He later told Maryland Matters that he did not oppose masks or vaccines, but opposed mandates.^[40] In December 2021, Bouchat was the only commissioner to vote against instituting a modified mask policy at Carroll County government facilities, which required unvaccinated county government employees to wear a mask while indoors.^[41] In February 2022, Bouchat declined to attend the State of the County address at the Carroll Arts Center, which was attended by all other county commissioners, because of its indoor mask-wearing requirement. He instead opted to protest outside the building by handing out copies of a written speech to those walking in.^[42]

Government

In July 2019, Bouchat introduced a bill that would place a question on the 2020 ballot that, if approved, would change Carroll County's form of government from a commission to a charter.^[43] After the Board of Commissioners voted to hold off on discussions on converting to a charter government, Bouchat announced that he would not seek re-election to a second term as county commissioner in 2022.^[15] In November 2020, Bouchat voted to pass a resolution that would establish a nine-member committee to write a charter; the resolution failed to pass in a 2-3 vote.^[44]

In January 2021, Bouchat recused himself as a non-voting member of the county's Planning and Zoning Commission, and soon after filed motions to eliminate the non-voting positions from the county's Board of Education and Planning and Zoning Commission.^[45] Both motions failed to gain a second and were not voted upon.^[46]

Redistricting

In September 2022, Bouchat said he supported a constitutional amendment to the Constitution of Maryland establishing a 188-member redistricting commission to draw Maryland's congressional and legislative maps, with each of its members elected proportionally to a county's population and in non-partisan elections.^[47]

Social issues

In June 2020, Bouchat joined a Black Lives Matter protest in Westminster.^[48] Later that month, he proposed creating a heritage commission to recognize the history and achievements of African Americans in Carroll County.^[49]

In February 2022, Bouchat distributed copies of a printed speech at the annual State of the County address, in which he wrote that he believed that the board of commissioners would benefit from not being made up of "old Caucasian males," calling on women to "step up and take control of our local government".^[42]

State and national politics

In 2016, Bouchat ran as an unaffiliated candidate to the Republican National Convention in Maryland's 8th congressional district. He said that he would vote for Donald Trump on the first ballot if the voters sent him to the Convention, and hoped that Trump would pick John Kasich as his running mate.^[50]

In January 2021, Bouchat condemned the January 6 United States Capitol attack and compared the presidential transition to what happens with the Board of Commissioners:^[51]

I just ask people to step back, take a deep breath and allow things to unfold and allow the transition of power to take place. Even though I did not vote for the president-elect, he is our president and everyone must respect that, just as my colleagues are setting the example now. We transitioned from President Wantz to President Rothstein. That is a wonderful thing.

In 2022, Bouchat endorsed former Maryland Secretary of Commerce Kelly Schulz for governor.^[52]

Taxes

In March 2023, Bouchat voted against an amendment that would remove a provision that indexed the state's gas tax to the consumer price index. The amendment failed by a 38-90 vote, with Bouchat being the only House Republican to vote against it.^[5]