He is a member of the Maryland Senate from the 42nd district, representing Central and Northern Baltimore County.

[8] He was once again considered a possible candidate for the seat after chairman Richard D. Bennett announced his resignation at the end of the year.

[10] In February 2003, Governor Robert Ehrlich appointed West to the Maryland State Arts Council.

[23] West supports banning abortions after a fetus reaches fetal viability unless the mother's life is at risk.

[24] In 2019, following the legislature's vote on a bill that would raise the state's minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025, West agreed to participate in a work group proposed by Democratic Senator Katie Fry Hester that looked to study ways to help small businesses in the years leading up to the bill's full effective date.

[38] In December 2019, the Maryland Public Interest Research Group gave West a score of 83 percent on its annual legislative scorecard.

[40] He later withdrew the bill over worries that it would not pass in the House,[41] but announced in March 2021 that he had worked out a deal with AES Corporation that would cause the Warrior Run Generating Station to stop burning coal in 2030.

[44] In November 2021, the Maryland League of Conservation Voters gave West a score of 100 percent on its annual legislative scorecard.

He later amended the bill to allow off-track betting, but required that the Fairgrounds enter a contract agreement with the Greater Timonium Community Council, and banned slots and table games.

[48] In June 2021, West signed onto a letter that urged Governor Larry Hogan to use federal rent relief funding support legislation that would provide low-income tenants with access to legal representation in eviction cases.

[55] In February 2021, West voted in favor of legislation that would repeal the Law Enforcement Officers' Bill of Rights.

However, he withdrew his support for the bill after it was amended to include provisions that would create an employee assistance mental health program and implement a statewide use of force policy.

[57] West introduced two amendments to the Police Reform and Accountability Act of 2021: the first to insert portions of the Senate's Law Enforcement Officers' Bill of Rights repeal into Jones' bill and the other to establish that law enforcement agencies have the burden of proof under a preponderance of the evidence during trial board proceedings and that officers can only be disciplined for cause.

[59] In 2019, West voted in favor of legislation that would make it legal for doctors to prescribe a lethal dose of medication to terminally ill patients who want to end their lives.

[60][61] In February 2020, West co-sponsored legislation that would make single-occupant bathrooms gender neutral.

[62] In August 2020, West signed onto a letter calling on the Baltimore County Public Schools system to ban hate symbols in the form of Confederate flags and swastikas.

[64] In February 2021, West cosponsored legislation that would provide students with access to period products in school bathrooms.