C. Anthony Muse (born Charles Anthony Muse on April 17, 1958) 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 bi ...

and minister 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 ...

and a member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

. He is a member of 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-m ...

, representing Maryland's

District 26 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 southern

Prince George's County ) , demonym = Prince Georgian , ZIP codes = 20607–20774 , area codes = 240, 301 , founded date = April 23 , founded year = 1696 , named for = Prince George of Denmark , leader_title = Executive , leader_name = Angela D. Alsobrook ...

. He is also the senior pastor of the Ark of Safety Christian Church in

Upper Marlboro, Maryland Upper Marlboro, officially the Town of Upper Marlboro, is the seat of Prince George's County, Maryland. Aso of the 2020 census, the population was 652. although Greater Upper Marlboro is many times larger. Etymology Upper Marlboro was establ ...

. In the 2012 U.S. Senate election in Maryland, Muse unsuccessfully challenged incumbent

Ben Cardin Benjamin Louis Cardin (born October 5, 1943) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Maryland, a seat he has held since 2007. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously was the U.S. representat ...

in the Democratic primary, receiving about 16% of the vote to Cardin's 74%.

Early life, education, and pastoral career

Muse grew up in Park Heights, a working-class

Baltimore, Maryland 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 ...

neighborhood. Muse has never met his biological father and only learned the man's name when he was an adult and got a copy of his birth certificate. His teenage mother, Gloria Watson, had four boys and a girl by the time of Muse's birth in 1958. Watson married a violent man who beat him, his siblings and his mother. When Muse was twelve Watson announced to the children that they were moving to Alabama to join a revival group and escape their abusive stepfather. On the day they were supposed to leave, Muse packed a suitcase and ran away. For a few months, he lived with an older brother. Then, he said, he passed through 11 foster families in two years. Muse left some of the homes after fighting with the children, or the foster parents. He was thrown out of Pimlico Junior High School, he said, after jumping up on a lunchroom table, kicking over students' lunches and starting a melee. His last stop on the foster care circuit was the home of the Rev. George Stansbury, a

United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelic ...

minister whom he credits with imposing order on his life. As a teen he was hanging with the wrong crowd and Rev Stansbury saved Muse from a drug dealer that was going to harm him. By age 20, Muse was a United Methodist minister, assigned to Mount Zion UMC in

Ellicott City Ellicott City is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in, and the county seat of, Howard County, Maryland, United States. Part of the Baltimore metropolitan area, its population was 65,834 at the 2010 census, making it the mo ...

. His youthfulness, his Afro and red Gremlin vehicle, surprised his new congregants. However Muse won them over with his dramatic preaching and by adding a guitar and drums to the service. Long before he earned his degrees he'd sign cards "Dr. C. Anthony Muse" to Nina Ringgold, a congregant who gave him money and cooked for him. After graduating from Morgan State University in Baltimore, he received a master's in divinity from

Wesley Theological Seminary Wesley Theological Seminary is a United Methodist Church seminary in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1882. History Wesley Theological Seminary can trace its roots back to the 1881 meeting of the Methodist Protestant Church's Maryland Annua ...

Washington DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

; then a doctorate degree of Ministry from

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a Private university, private, University charter#Federal, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, classifie ...

. Muse is a member of

Kappa Alpha Psi Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African American fraternity. Since the fraternity's founding on January 5, 1911 at Indiana University Bloomington, the fraternity has never restricted membership on the basis of color, creed ...

fraternity. Muse is married to

WRC-TV WRC-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Washington, D.C., airing programming from the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Class A Telemundo outlet WZDC-CD (channel 44 ...

news anchor Pat Lawson-Muse. Together they have adopted daughter Lynell. Muse worked as a pastor at a number of

United Methodist The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelic ...

churches before founding the Ark of Safety Christian Church in

Maryland legislature

Elections

Muse was originally 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, ...

in 1994 with 27% of the vote, representing District 26 in southern

. He only served one term in the House, not running for re-election in 1998. He ran for Prince George's County Executive in 2002 and lost the Democratic primary. In 2006, Muse ran for an open seat in the

and in the Democratic primary defeated fellow State Representative

Obie Patterson Obie Patterson (born March 7, 1938) is an American politician. He was previously a Democratic member of the Maryland Senate from the 26th district in Prince George's County. He served on the Prince George's County Council representing District ...

55%-45%. In the general election, he won unopposed. Muse was reelected to the Maryland state senate in 2010 and 2014. Instead of running for a fourth state senate term in 2018, Muse ran unsuccessfully for Prince George's County Executive.

Tenure

In the Maryland legislature, Muse criticized the congressional and legislative redistricting processes as being overly partisan and discriminatory toward black voters. He has tried to expand

financial literacy Financial literacy is the possession of the set of skills and knowledge that allows an individual to make informed and effective decisions with all of their financial resources. Raising interest in personal finance is now a focus of state-run progr ...

, protect domestic violence victims, and provide more rights to

noncustodial parent A noncustodial parent is a parent who does not have physical custody of his or her minor child as the result of a court order. When the child lives with only one parent, in a sole custody arrangement, then the parent with which the child lives is ...

s. He has also been heavily involved in issues affecting Prince George's and his district, including attempts to revitalize

Rosecroft Raceway Rosecroft Raceway, nicknamed the "Raceway by the Beltway" for being close to Interstate 495, is a harness racing track in Fort Washington, Maryland. It first opened in 1949 and was owned by William E. Miller, a horse trainer and breeder. Rosec ...

in Fort Washington; in 2010, Muse sponsored unsuccessful legislation to legalize gambling on card games at the horse track. He also initially opposed allowing a casino at

National Harbor, Maryland National Harbor is a census-designated place (CDP) in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, located along the Potomac River near the Woodrow Wilson Bridge and just south of Washington, D.C. It originated as a multi-use waterfront dev ...

, favoring instead locating a casino at Rosecroft. Muse is also known for strong social-conservative viewpoints, including strong opposition in 2011 and 2012 to the Civil Marriage Protection Act and the 2012 Question 6 referendum on same-sex marriage. However, in 2014, Muse voted to ban discrimination based on gender identity after opposing a similar bill the prior year.

Committee assignments

During his time in the house, he served on the Ways and Means Committee and as chaplain of the Maryland Legislative Black Caucus. Muse currently sits on the Senate Finance Committee. He was a member of the Task Force to Study County Property-Tax Setoffs and Related Fiscal Issues in 1997 and a member of the Bi-County Affairs Committee of Prince George's County Delegation.

2012 U.S. Senate election

In January 2012, Muse announced he would seek to be the Democratic candidate in the 2012 Maryland U.S. Senate race, challenging incumbent Sen.

. In the April 3 Democratic primary, Muse came in second with 15.7% of the vote.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Muse, C. Anthony Democratic Party Maryland state senators Democratic Party members of the Maryland House of Delegates Living people 1958 births Morgan State University alumni Wesley Theological Seminary alumni Politicians from Baltimore African-American state legislators in Maryland 21st-century American politicians American United Methodist clergy 20th-century Methodist ministers 21st-century Methodist ministers African-American Methodists 20th-century American clergy 21st-century American clergy 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American politicians