Royden Patrick Dyson (born November 15, 1948), is an American politician. He is a former Democratic member of the

United States House of Representatives 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 house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

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 ...

. Born in

Great Mills, Maryland Great Mills is an unincorporated community in St. Mary's County, Maryland, United States. Great Mills High School serves the lower end of the county, including the town (census CDP) of Lexington Park. The area is site of some of the oldest agricul ...

, Dyson attended private schools and graduated from Great Mills High School in 1966. He attended the

University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of Mary ...

, and the

University of Baltimore The University of Baltimore (UBalt, UB) is a public university in Baltimore, Maryland. It is part of the University System of Maryland. UBalt's schools and colleges provide education in business, law, public affairs, and the applied arts and sc ...

in 1968, 1969, and 1970. He also served as a legislative assistant in the United States House of Representatives from 1973 to 1974. Dyson was elected to 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, ...

, serving from 1975 to 1980, and was a delegate in 1978 to the Democratic National Issues Conference. Dyson ran for Congress in the Eastern Shore-based 1st District in 1976, losing to two-term

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Robert Bauman Robert E. Bauman (born April 4, 1937) is an American lawyer and politician. He is a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Maryland's 1st congressional district (1973–1981). Bauman was a prominent conservative advocate in the ...

. However, he defeated Bauman in 1980 after Bauman suffered a sex scandal in the weeks prior to election day. Dyson was reelected three more times without much difficulty. In the 1988 election, Dyson was dogged by allegations of improper contributions from defense contractors. His Republican opponent was

Wayne Gilchrest Wayne Thomas Gilchrest (born April 15, 1946) is an American politician who served as a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives representing . In 2008, Gilchrest was defeated in the Republican primary by State Senator Andy ...

, a high school teacher who had never run for office before. Dyson barely held onto his seat, winning by only 460 votes. In 1990, Gilchrest defeated Dyson 57% to 43% despite again being badly outspent by Dyson, who received substantial PAC contributions in all of his later campaigns. In 1995, Dyson was elected to 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- ...

, representing District 29 (

St. Mary's County St. Mary's County may refer to: * St. Mary's County, Maryland *St. Mary's County, Utah Territory There are 29 counties in the U.S. state of Utah. There were originally seven counties established under the provisional State of Deseret in 1849: ...

and southern

Calvert County Calvert County is located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the population was 92,783. Its county seat is Prince Frederick. The county's name is derived from the family name of the Barons of Baltimore, the proprietors of t ...

). As of 2014, he resided in Great Mills.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dyson, Royden Patrick Democratic Party members of the Maryland House of Delegates Democratic Party Maryland state senators University of Maryland, College Park alumni University of Baltimore alumni People from St. Mary's County, Maryland Living people 1948 births Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Maryland 21st-century American politicians