Mary L. Washington
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Mary Lynn Washington (born May 20, 1962) 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 ...
from
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 ...
. 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 ...
, she was first elected in 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 2010 to represent the 43rd legislative district. In 2018, she 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- ...
where she now serves."Mary Washington claims victory in Maryland Senate race against Joan Carter Conway"
, ''Baltimore Sun'', 2018-07-06.


Background

Born in
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
to two healthcare professionals, Washington is a graduate of the
Philadelphia High School for Girls The Philadelphia High School for Girls, also known as Girls' High, is a public college preparatory magnet high school for girls in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As its name suggests, the school's enrollment is all female. Established in 1848, it ...
. She earned her
Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
from
Antioch University Antioch University is a private university with multiple campuses in the United States and online programs. Founded in 1852 as Antioch College, its first president was politician, abolitionist, and education reformer Horace Mann. It changed its n ...
in Philadelphia in 1989. She then moved to Baltimore to attend
Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...
, where she earned a
Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...
in 1992 and a
Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common Academic degree, degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields ...
in 1997, both in
sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...
. In 2012, Washington complete
Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government
program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government as
David BohnettLGBTQ Victory Institute
Leadership Fellow. She began her professional career in academia, teaching at
Lehigh University Lehigh University (LU) is a private research university in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer and was originally affiliated with the Epis ...
from 1995 to 2000 and then completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the Populations Studies Center at the
University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
from 2000 to 2001. Subsequently, she worked as the Director of the HousingStat Office at the Housing Authority of Baltimore City, Interim Director for the Baltimore Neighborhood Indicators Alliance in 2005, Adjunct Faculty Member at the Maryland Institute College of Art and Assistant Director at the Urban Resources Initiative from 2006 to 2008, Associate Director at the Parks & People Foundation, and a Maryland Public Policy Conflict Resolution Fellow at the Center for Dispute Resolution at the University of Maryland School of Law in 2013. In 2010, Washington was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates and made history by becoming the first openly LGBT African-American elected official in Maryland — and only the second such state legislator in the country. Washington is a member of the Maryland Complete Count Committee and the Criminal Justice Information Advisory Board and is a member of the part-time faculty at the Maryland Institute College of Art where she teaches public policy and sociology.


In the legislature

Senator Mary Washington currently serves on the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee and has the following current assignments: * Senate Chair, Joint Committee on Children, Youth, and Families * Senate Chair, Joint Committee on Ending Homelessness * Chair, Task Force to Study Crime Classification and Penalties * Member, Maryland Legislative Black Caucus * Associate Member, Maryland Legislative Latino Caucus * Member, Women Legislators of Maryland


Political career

Prior to being elected to the Maryland Senate, Washington represented the 43rd District in the Maryland House of Delegates. As Delegate, she served on both the House Appropriations Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee. She also served as House Chair of the Joint Committee on Homelessness and as a member of the Joint Committee on Children, Youth, and Families, the Regional Revitalization Task Force, the Tax Credit Evaluation Committee, and the Unaccompanied Homeless Youth Task Force. From 2015 to 2016, Washington served as the Deputy Majority Whip.


2006 Run for Maryland House of Delegates – 43rd District

Washington first ran for the House of Delegates in 2006, seeking one of three seats in Baltimore's 43rd district. She was one of six Democrats to run in the district. The field included all three incumbents:
Curt Anderson Curtis Stovall Anderson (born October 12, 1949) is an American politician, lawyer and former broadcast journalist. He was first elected to the Maryland House of Delegates in 1983, is the chairman of the Baltimore City Delegation, and past chair ...
(first elected 1982),
Ann Marie Doory Ann Marie L. Doory is an American politician who represented the 43rd legislative district in the Maryland House of Delegates from 1987 to 2010. She resigned on July 13, 2010. Background Ann Marie L. Doory was born in Yonkers, New York, on Augu ...
(first elected 1986) and
Maggie McIntosh Margaret L. "Maggie" McIntosh (born December 22, 1947) is an American politician from the state of Maryland. She was a member of the Maryland House of Delegates from 1993 to 2023. She is a former Baltimore City Public School teacher who now chai ...
(first elected 1992). Washington finished fourth in the Democratic primary held on September 12, 2006, behind the three incumbents. :


2010 Maryland House of Delegates – 43rd District

Washington mounted a second bid for the House of Delegates in 2010, also in the 43rd district. This time, only two incumbents were seeking re-election: Ann Marie Doory had retired in July 2010 and her appointed successor, Scherod C. Barnes, was not running for a full term. Once again, six Democrats filed for three seats but Washington now had the support of the other incumbents – she joined the
slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...
of Sen. Joan Carter Conway and Dels. Maggie McIntosh and Curt Anderson. All four of the slate's members won the primary, with Washington winning by a comfortable margin. : In the general election, the three Democratic nominees faced no opposition in a district that's overwhelmingly Democratic. They were elected unopposed.


2014 Run for Maryland House of Delegates – 43rd District

:


2018 Run for Maryland State Senate - 43rd District

In a close primary election against the incumbent Joan Carter Conway, Mary Washington won by about 500 votes.


2020 mayoral campaign

Washington was a candidate in the 2020 Baltimore mayoral election, but announced the suspension of her campaign in March 2020, so that she could focus her energies upon helping her constituents respond to the
Coronavirus disease 2019 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...
pandemic.


References


External links


Biography courtesy of the Maryland State ArchivesCampaign websiteRadio interview
explaining her opposition to legislation enabling
Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...
to establish a private police force. {{DEFAULTSORT:Washington, Mary L. Living people Lesbian politicians LGBT state legislators in Maryland LGBT people from Pennsylvania Democratic Party members of the Maryland House of Delegates Women state legislators in Maryland Antioch University alumni Johns Hopkins University alumni African-American state legislators in Maryland African-American women in politics Lehigh University faculty American Presbyterians 1962 births Politicians from Philadelphia Politicians from Baltimore 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians Democratic Party Maryland state senators American women academics 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American politicians 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women