Vogel was born in Montevideo, Uruguay on January 4, 1997,[1][2] to mother Gabriela[3] and father David Vogel, an advisor to the Uruguayan government.[4] He immigrated to the United States with his family when he was three years old due to his father's job as a diplomat for the International Monetary Fund.[5] His family settled in Rockville, Maryland, upon immigrating to the United States.[6] He became a U.S. citizen in November 2016.[7]
While a student at George Washington University, Vogel served as an at-large member of the Student Association Senate but was impeached and removed from office by activists he claimed were from the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement[8] in January 2018 for missing four consecutive meetings due to his involvement with Ralph Northam's 2017 gubernatorial campaign in Virginia.[9]
Vogel served on the Maryland Youth Advisory Council from 2015 to 2016. He also worked as a policy fellow at Interfaith Works in Montgomery County and founded Learn It Together, a nonprofit organization to help students of essential workers as they transitioned to remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.[10]
Maryland House of Delegates
Vogel (far right) and other members of the LGBTQ+ Caucus with Governor Wes Moore, 2023
In September 2021, Vogel announced he would run for the Maryland House of Delegates, challenging incumbent Democratic state delegate James W. Gilchrist, who later announced his retirement; Kagan, who had political differences with Gilchrest, recruited Vogel to run for the seat.[5][13] During the primary, Vogel strategized with Connecticut state senator Will Haskell and hosted campaign events featuring Cory Booker.[7] He won the Democratic primary with 27.9% of the vote and defeated Republican challengers Helene Meister and Donald Patti in the general election with 27.5% of the vote.[14][15]
During his House of Delegates campaign, Vogel ran on a platform that included climate, mental health, and economic issues.[6][7] He has described himself as a "pragmatic progressive" and cited Cory Booker as his political role model.[18]
Education
Vogel supports making public colleges tuition-free as well as codifying President Joe Biden's cancellation of up to $20,000 in student loan debt into law.[18] During the 2023 legislative session, Vogel introduced a bill to forgive up to $30,000 in student debt for mental health professionals employed at Maryland public schools.[22]
Environment
During the 2023 legislative session, Vogel introduced legislation to provide funding for climate startups.[23]
Gun policy
Following the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, Vogel advocated for gun control.[20] During his House of Delegates campaign, he said he supports legislation to hold gunmakers liable for school shootings; he also said he supports banning ghost guns, increasing funding for violence prevention programs, and requiring gun owners to have liability insurance.[24]
Health care
Vogel supports Medicare for All but opposes making people give up their private insurance plans and prohibiting health care companies from covering procedures covered by Medicare.[18]
Vogel supports increasing funding for drug intervention and treatment programs.[23] During the 2023 legislative session, he introduced the Josh Siems Act, which would require emergency rooms to include fentanyl testing in toxicology screens. The bill was named for Baltimore native Josh Siems, who died from a fentanyl overdose on his 31st birthday in 2022.[25] The bill unanimously passed the Maryland General Assembly[26][27] and was signed into law by Governor Wes Moore.[28]
Immigration
During his 2024 congressional campaign, Vogel expressed support for efforts to support DREAMers and DACA recipients.[3][29] He supports the American Dream and Promise Act, which would codify provisions of the DACA program into law.[3]
Israel
Vogel describes himself as an "outspoken supporter of Israel".[9] He supports a two-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict and does not support conditioning U.S. foreign aid on Israeli actions.[30][18] He supports the working definition of antisemitism promoted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, stating in an interview with Jewish Insider that he accepts "fair criticism of the Israeli government", but views the "delegitimization and demonization" of Israel as antisemitic.[31]
While a member of the GWU Student Association Senate, Vogel opposed a student government resolution encouraging the university to divest from companies accused of violating Palestinian human rights.[32] The Senate voted to reject the resolution by a vote of 14–15, with one abstention, in May 2017.[33] After Vogel was impeached from the Student Association Senate in 2018, he accused three of its members of being "closely aligned with the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement" and of launching an effort to kick him out of the Senate following his efforts against the pro-Palestinian divestment resolution.[34] In March 2018, after one of the three senators, Brady Forrest, was accused of antisemitism after old Facebook posts resurfaced showing Forrest calling for a boycott of a campus event sponsored by Jewish student groups that he claimed supported the 2014 Gaza War, Vogel drafted a letter signed by nearly 70 student leaders calling for Forrest's resignation.[35] He spoke out against members of the Student Association Senate for failing to censure Forrest in April 2018.[36]
In May 2023, Vogel said he supported the protests against proposed judicial reforms in Israel.[30] In October 2023, he said he would support increasing the U.S. military presence in the region to deter future conflicts and called on Congress to provide Israel and Palestine with monetary support to help Israel defend itself and to assist with humanitarian efforts in Palestine.[37] Vogel also criticized activist groups Jewish Voice for Peace and IfNotNow as "fringe organizations" after they released statements accusing Israel of provoking the 2023 Israel–Hamas war,[38] and cosigned a letter with other congressional candidates supporting President Joe Biden's actions toward the war.[39] In November, he attended the March for Israel in Washington, D.C.[40] and called for the resignation of Zainab Chaudry, the director of the state Council on American–Islamic Relations chapter, from the state Commission on Hate Crime Response and Prevention after making Facebook posts comparing Israel to Nazi Germany and calling attendees of the March for Israel "genocide sympathizers".[41] Chaudry was suspended from the commission by Attorney General Anthony Brown the following day.[42] During the 2024 legislative session, after Chaudry was reinstated to the board in December 2023, Vogel introduced legislation to remove Chaudry from the board and replace her with "two members of the Muslim community"[43][44] and another bill allowing for the removal of commission and task force members for "misconduct, incompetence, neglect of duties, or other good cause".[45]
Social issues
During the 2023 legislative session, Vogel introduced a bill to establish a commission on hate crime response and prevention following an uptick in hateful acts in Montgomery County, which was signed into law by Governor Moore.[22][46] He also introduced the Event-Goer Rights and Accountable Sales (ERAS) Act following the 2022 Ticketmaster controversy, which requires ticket issuers to enforce a ticket refund policy and ban restrictions on ticket resales and transfers.[22]
In January 2024, Vogel spoke against proposed bills to ban transgender students from competing on girls' sports teams in schools and another that would ban sexually explicit materials from school libraries, saying that the introduction of both would be "detrimental" to the trans community.[47]
Taxes
During the 2023 legislative session, Vogel introduced a bill to provide tax credits to Maryland-based news media outlets with fewer than 50 employees for advertising costs.[22]
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