[4] In a close election in 2018, Bates was defeated by non-profit executive Katie Fry Hester by 1.7 percentage points.

She served as an assistant to the Howard County Executive from 1991 to 1998 and was Chief of Staff for Delegate Donald E. Murphy in District 12A from 1999 until 2002.

She is a member of the Therapeutic Horsemanship Association and received the Life Achievement Award from the Howard County Republican Central Committee in 1990.

[7] In the 2002 election, Bates defeated Democrats Walter E. Carson and Tony McGuffin to maintain the seat she'd been appointed to.

She won again along with fellow Republican Warren E. Miller, when they defeated Democrat David Leonard Osmundson.