Catherine I. Riley (born March 21, 1947) is a former lobbyist, civil servant and politician from

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 ...

. She represented

Harford County Harford County is located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the population was 260,924. Its county seat is Bel Air. Harford County is included in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is al ...

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 1975 to 1982 and 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- ...

from 1983 to 1990.

Early life

Catherine I. Riley was born in

Harford County, Maryland Harford County is located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the population was 260,924. Its county seat is Bel Air. Harford County is included in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is al ...

on March 21, 1947. She attended parochial schools in Bel Air. She graduated in 1969 with 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 ...

from Towson State College.

Career

Riley served in

representing

District 6 District Six is a place in Cape Town, South Africa. District Six may also refer to: :Government divisions * District 6, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam * District 6 (New York City Council), in the United States * VI District, Turku, in Finland * Distri ...

from 1975 to 1982. She also represented

District 34 A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

in the

from 1983 to 1990. She ran as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

. In 1995, Governor

Parris Glendening Parris Nelson Glendening (born June 11, 1942) is an American politician and academic who served as the 59th Governor of Maryland from January 18, 1995, to January 15, 2003. Previously, he was the County Executive of Prince George's County, Mary ...

hired Riley to his legislative lobbying team. She continued in that role and was appointed by Glendening to serve on the

Maryland Public Service Commission The Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) is an independent administrative agency within the state government which regulates public utilities and certain taxi cab and other passenger services in Maryland. Similar to other state public utilities ...

on May 21, 1999. She was appointed as head of the Commission on October 18, 2000 by Glendening after

Glenn Ivey Glenn Frederick Ivey (born February 27, 1961) is an American politician and attorney who is the Representative-elect for Maryland's 4th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives. A partner at the law firm of Ivey & Leve ...

announced he was stepping down. She served in that role until 2003.

Personal life

Riley was friends with fellow senator

Thomas V. Miller Jr. Thomas Vincent Miller Jr. (December 3, 1942 – January 15, 2021), known as Mike Miller, was an American politician from Maryland. He had been a Maryland Senate, state senator representing the 27th District (Calvert County, Maryland, Calvert, Ch ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Riley, Catherine 1947 births Living people Politicians from Harford County, Maryland Democratic Party Maryland state senators Democratic Party members of the Maryland House of Delegates Towson University alumni 20th-century American women politicians 21st-century American women politicians Women state legislators in Maryland 21st-century American politicians 20th-century American politicians