Victoria Jackson-Stanley (born August 20, 1953) is an American politician who previously served as Mayor of the City of Cambridge, Maryland. She was the first

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

and the first

Mayoress In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

of Cambridge, Maryland.

Background

Jackson-Stanley was born in and grew up in Cambridge, where blacks attended segregated schools. The town had a history of racial unrest, with

race riots An ethnic conflict is a conflict between two or more contending ethnic groups. While the source of the conflict may be political, social, economic or religious, the individuals in conflict must expressly fight for their ethnic group's positio ...

making headlines in the 1960s. By the 1970s, the town integrated and she was among the first black students to attend the previously all-white Cambridge High School.
Jackson-Stanley was previously the deputy director of the Dorchester County Department of Social Services. She and her husband, Jerome, live in Cambridge; they have a daughter and a grandson.

Election

On June 10, 2008, in a non-partisan

primary election Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...

Jackson-Stanley and incumbent Mayor Cleveland Rippons won the right to face each other in the July

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

. Rippons received 696 votes, Jackson-Stanley 674 votes and Octavene Saunders finished third with 128 votes. Under Cambridge local election laws, only the top two vote-getters qualify for a run-off general election. Rippons, an eight-year incumbent, was criticized during the campaign for his support of the expansion of development in and around Cambridge. On July 8, 2008 voters chose Jackson-Stanley over Rippons by a 1,383 to 1,231 margin. Although Cambridge is composed equally of black and white residents, neither candidate felt that the other brought up race as an issue. Residents agreed that economic growth and other concerns were more important than gender or race. Jackson-Stanley was sworn in on July 21, 2008. She won a second term in July 2012. Jackson-Stanley served a third term from 2016 to 2020. She was defeated in a runoff election by a 57% to 43% margin in 2020 by local businessman and volunteer firefighter Andrew Bradshaw.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson-Stanley, Victoria 1953 births Living people Women mayors of places in Maryland African-American mayors in Maryland Towson University alumni Mayors of places in Maryland Women in Maryland politics African-American women in politics People from Cambridge, Maryland Maryland Democrats 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women