Antonio Lamar Hayes (born December 9, 1977) is an

American politician The politics of the United States function within a framework of a constitutional federal republic and presidential system, with three distinct branches that share powers. These are: the U.S. Congress which forms the legislative branch, a bic ...

who represents the 40th legislative district of

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

in the

Maryland Senate The Maryland Senate, sometimes referred to as the Maryland State Senate, is the upper house of the General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland. Composed of 47 senators elected from an equal number of constituent single- ...

. He previously represented the 40th district in the

Maryland House of Delegates The Maryland House of Delegates is the lower house of the legislature of the State of Maryland. It consists of 141 delegates elected from 47 districts. The House of Delegates Chamber is in the Maryland State House on State Circle in Annapolis, ...

from 2015 to 2019.

Background

Hayes was born in

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. He was raised by his grandmother and grew up in Baltimore. He attended

Frostburg State University Frostburg State University (FSU) is a public university in Frostburg, Maryland. The university is the only four-year institution of the University System of Maryland west of the Baltimore-Washington passageway in the state's Appalachian highlan ...

, earning a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

degree in political science in 2000. Since 2010, Hayes has served as the Chief of Staff of the Baltimore City Department of Social Services.

In the legislature

In 2014, Hayes defeated two-term incumbent

Shawn Z. Tarrant Shawn Z. Tarrant (born July 30, 1965) is an American politician who represented the 40th legislative district in the Maryland House of Delegates from 2007 to 2015. Tarrant was a member of the House Health and Government Operations Committee, Ins ...

to win a seat in the House of Delegates. He was sworn in on January 14, 2015. On July 29, 2017, Hayes announced his bid for State Senate, challenging appointed state Senator

Barbara A. Robinson Barbara A. Robinson (born June 8, 1938) is an American politician who represents the 40th legislative district in the Maryland Senate. Robinson is a former chair of the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland. Background Robinson attended the Unive ...

for the seat formerly held by Mayor

Catherine Pugh Catherine Elizabeth Pugh (born March 10, 1950) is an American former politician. A member of the Democratic Party, she served as the 51st mayor of Baltimore from 2016 to 2019, when she resigned amid a scandal that eventually led to criminal charg ...

. He defeated Robinson in the Democratic primary, earning 65.4 percent of the vote. He ultimately won the general election unchallenged and took office on January 9, 2019. Following the death of

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

Elijah Cummings Elijah Eugene Cummings (January 18, 1951October 17, 2019) was an American politician and civil rights advocate who served in the United States House of Representatives for from 1996 until his death in 2019, when he was succeeded by his predecess ...

in October 2019, Hayes was seen as a possible candidate in the subsequent

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-larges ...

. Later that month, he said that he would not run for the seat. In 2020, Hayes ran for national delegate pledged to Joe Biden in

Maryland's 7th congressional district Maryland's 7th congressional district of the United States House of Representatives encompasses just over half of the city of Baltimore, most of the majority-black precincts of Baltimore County, and the majority of Howard County. The district ...

at the

Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 ...

. He won the primary election, receiving 18.4 percent of the vote.

Committee assignments

* Member, Finance Committee, 2019–present (energy & public utilities subcommittee, 2019–present) * Member, Joint Committee on Federal Relations, 2019–present * Senate Chair, Joint Committee on Behavioral Health and Opioid Use Disorders, 2019–present * Member, Joint Committee on Administrative, Executive and Legislative Review, 2020–present * Member, Executive Nominations Committee, 2021–present * Member, Health and Government Operations Committee, 2015–2019 (government operations & long-term care subcommittee, 2015–2017; health facilities & occupations subcommittee, 2015–2017; government operations & estates & trusts subcommittee, 2017–2019; health facilities & pharmaceuticals subcommittee, 2017–2019) * Member, Joint Committee on Children, Youth, and Families, 2015–2019 * Member, Public Safety and Policing Work Group, 2015–2016 * Member,

Affordable Care Act The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Presid ...

Work Group, 2018 * Member, Opioid Work Group, 2018

Other memberships

* Chair, Baltimore City Senate Delegation, 2019–2020 * Member,

Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland The Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland, Inc. (also known as The Maryland Legislative Black Caucus) is an American political organization composed of African Americans elected to the Maryland General Assembly. Incorporated in 1970, the Caucus m ...

, 2015–present * Vice-Chair, Democratic Party Caucus, 2020–present

Political positions

Paid family leave

During the 2020 legislative session, Hayes introduced the "Time to Care Act", a bill that would provide Maryland workers with up to 12 weeks of

paid family leave Parental leave, or family leave, is an employee benefit available in almost all countries. The term "parental leave" may include maternity, paternity, and adoption leave; or may be used distinctively from "maternity leave" and "paternity le ...

. The bill was reintroduced in 2021 and 2022, during which it passed and became law after the General Assembly voted to override Governor

Larry Hogan Lawrence Joseph Hogan Jr. (born May 25, 1956) is an American politician and businessman serving as the 62nd governor of Maryland since 2015. A moderate member of the Republican Party, he was secretary of appointments under Maryland governor Bo ...

's veto.

Statewide politics

In September 2021, Hayes endorsed author

Wes Moore Westley Watende Omari Moore (born October 15, 1978) is an American politician, investment banker, author, and television producer. He is the governor-elect of Maryland, after defeating Republican Dan Cox in the 2022 Maryland gubernatorial ele ...

for Governor of Maryland in the

2022 Maryland gubernatorial election The 2022 Maryland gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 2022, to elect the next Governor of Maryland. Governor Larry Hogan, the incumbent two-term Republican, was term-limited and could not seek re-election to a third consecutive ter ...

Electoral history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hayes, Antonio Democratic Party members of the Maryland House of Delegates African-American state legislators in Maryland Politicians from Baltimore 1977 births Living people Frostburg State University alumni 21st-century American politicians Democratic Party Maryland state senators 21st-century African-American politicians 20th-century African-American people