Albert Russell Wynn (born September 10, 1951) is an American lobbyist and former politician who served as a 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 chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

, representing the

4th district Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

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 ...

from 1993 to 2008. On February 13, 2008, Wynn was defeated in the Democratic primary by

Donna Edwards Donna Fern Edwards (born June 28, 1958) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2008 to 2017. The district included most of Prince George's County, as well as part of Anne Arundel County. She is a member of the ...

, and resigned his office effective May 31, 2008.

Early life and education

Wynn was born in

Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Montgomery County is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is the List of counties in Pennsylvania, third-most populous county in Pennsylvania and the List of the most populous cou ...

. He was educated at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the univers ...

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 ...

, and

Georgetown University Law Center The Georgetown University Law Center (Georgetown Law) is the law school of Georgetown University, a private research university in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law school in the United States by enrollment and ...

. While attending the University of Pittsburgh, Wynn was initiated as a member of the Beta Epsilon chapter 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. Soon after graduating, Wynn became director of the Prince George's County Consumer Protection Commission. In 1982, he founded his own law firm. He then spent a decade in the

Maryland General Assembly The Maryland General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland that convenes within the State House in Annapolis. It is a bicameral body: the upper chamber, the Maryland Senate, has 47 representatives and the lower chamber ...

, serving in the state house from 1983 to 1987 and in the

state senate A state legislature in the United States is the legislative body of any of the 50 U.S. states. The formal name varies from state to state. In 27 states, the legislature is simply called the ''Legislature'' or the ''State Legislature'', whil ...

from 1987 to 1993.

Career

Wynn entered the Democratic primary for the 4th District in 1992. The 4th had been reconfigured as a black-majority district after the 1990 Census, and the previous incumbent, three-term Democrat

Tom McMillen Charles Thomas McMillen (born May 26, 1952) is an American politician, businessman, and retired professional basketball player. A Rhodes Scholar, McMillen represented Maryland's 4th congressional district from January 3, 1987 to January 3, 199 ...

, had been drawn out of the district. Wynn won a crowded seven-way primary by 1,300 votes, all but assuring him of election in the heavily Democratic district. He won the general election in November with 75 percent of the vote and was reelected seven times, never dropping below 75 percent of the vote. Wynn was a member of the

House Energy and Commerce Committee The Committee on Energy and Commerce is one of the oldest standing committees of the United States House of Representatives. Established in 1795, it has operated continuously—with various name changes and jurisdictional changes—for more tha ...

, where he chaired the Subcommittee on the Environment and Hazardous Materials. Wynn placed a high priority on economic issues. Wynn also supported the energy bill promoted by Vice President and former Halliburton CEO Dick Cheney. During the 105th Congress, Wynn sponsored legislation passed to improve federal contracting opportunities for small and minority businesses. He has twice received the

Small Business Administration The United States Small Business Administration (SBA) is an independent agency of the United States government that provides support to entrepreneurs and small businesses. The mission of the Small Business Administration is "to maintain and stre ...

''Administrator's Leadership Award'' for his efforts on behalf of small businesses. His 2000 re-election race made headlines, when the Congressman's estranged wife, Jessie Wynn, served as the campaign manager for his Republican opponent, John B. Kimble. In radio spots for Kimble's campaign, Mrs. Wynn stated "Albert Wynn does not respect

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ...

women. He left me for the

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

woman." During the 107th Congress, Wynn was one of only four of 36

Congressional Black Caucus The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) is a caucus made up of most African-American members of the United States Congress. Representative Karen Bass from California chaired the caucus from 2019 to 2021; she was succeeded by Representative Joyce B ...

members who voted on October 10, 2002 for the joint resolution authorizing the

Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق ( Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict and the War on terror , image ...

. The other three Congressional Black Caucus members who voted for the resolution authorizing the Iraq War were Bill Jefferson of

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

Sanford Bishop Sanford Dixon Bishop Jr. (born February 4, 1947) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative for , serving since 1993. He became the dean of Georgia's congressional delegation after the death of John Lewis. A member ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, and Harold Ford, Jr. of

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

. Wynn also served on the Congressional Black Caucus' Political Action Committee and its Minority Business Task Force. Wynn has issued statements of support for integrating

illegal aliens Illegal immigration is the migration of people into a country in violation of the immigration laws of that country or the continued residence without the legal right to live in that country. Illegal immigration tends to be financially upwar ...

into society, so long as strong border security provisions are included. He spoke at the

Washington, D.C. ) , 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, ...

Immigration Rally in April 2006, condemning H. R. 4437 and other bills that aim to deport all illegal immigrants. On Wynn's official website, he says "Now that they are in this country, we owe them respect and fair treatment."

2006 congressional elections

In 2006, he was challenged in the Democratic primary by community activist

, most recently executive director of the Arca Foundation. Edwards, who had clerked for Wynn in the 1980s while he served in the state legislature, criticized Wynn for his votes to support the Iraq war, repeal of the estate tax, support of the

Bankruptcy Reform Act of 2005 The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (BAPCPA) () is a legislative act that made several significant changes to the United States Bankruptcy Code. Referred to colloquially as the "New Bankruptcy Law", the Act of Co ...

, and of the Bush Administration's energy bill, arguing that he was too conservative and too closely allied with Republicans. While Wynn was initially heavily favored, Edwards showed surprising strength. Two weeks before the primary, ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' endorsed Edwards. The primary was held on September 12, and when all the votes had been counted, Wynn defeated Edwards by 49.7 percent to 46.4 percent — by 2,725 votes out of more than 82,000 cast. George McDermott, a little-known candidate, took 3.9 percent. The final tally of the primary was unclear for nearly two weeks because of widespread voting problems on new electronic voting machines in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties.

2008 congressional elections

Edwards sought a rematch in 2008. This time, Edwards won the backing of the influential

MoveOn.org MoveOn (formerly known as MoveOn.org) is a progressive public policy advocacy group and political action committee. Formed in 1998 around one of the first massively viral email petitions, MoveOn has since grown into one of the largest grassroot ...

. Edwards also had the support of many progressive community organizations, and many influential

netroots Netroots is a term coined in 2002 by Jerome Armstrong to describe political activism organized through blogs and other online media, including wikis and social network services. The word is a portmanteau of Internet and grassroots, reflecting t ...

organizations such as

Daily Kos Daily Kos ( ) is a group blog and internet forum focused on the U.S. Democratic Party and liberal American politics. The site includes glossaries and other content. It is sometimes considered an example of " netroots" activism. Daily Kos was ...

and OpenLeft. In the primary, Edwards routed Wynn, 60 percent to 36 percent.

Resignation

On March 27, 2008, Wynn announced his resignation from Congress effective in June. Edwards was elected in a special election to finish out the rest of Wynn's term, defeating anti-war Republican primary winner Peter James in the general election in November 2008.

Post-congressional career

He became a partner of

Dickstein Shapiro Dickstein Shapiro LLP (formerly Dickstein, Shapiro, Morin & Oshinsky) was a large U.S. law firm and lobbying group based in Washington, D.C., with five offices across the United States. According to the National Law Journal's 2012 rankings, it ...

, a large

lobbying In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying, which ...

firm whose clients include the tobacco, entertainment, energy, and software industries as well as the

Teamsters The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), also known as the Teamsters Union, is a labor union in the United States and Canada. Formed in 1903 by the merger of The Team Drivers International Union and The Teamsters National Union, the ...

. Because House rules prohibit former members from lobbying current members of Congress for one year after departing, Wynn began lobbying Congress in June 2009 instead of in January 2010 due to his early resignation.

Election history

!bgcolor=#CCCCCC , Year !bgcolor=#CCCCCC , Office !bgcolor=#CCCCCC , Election ! !bgcolor=#CCCCCC , Subject !bgcolor=#CCCCCC , Party !bgcolor=#CCCCCC , Votes !bgcolor=#CCCCCC , % ! !bgcolor=#CCCCCC , Opponent !bgcolor=#CCCCCC , Party !bgcolor=#CCCCCC , Votes !bgcolor=#CCCCCC , % ! !bgcolor=#CCCCCC , Opponent !bgcolor=#CCCCCC , Party !bgcolor=#CCCCCC , Votes !bgcolor=#CCCCCC , % , - , 1992 , Congress, 4th district , General , , , bgcolor=#DDEEFF , Al Wynn , bgcolor=#DDEEFF , Democratic , bgcolor=#DDEEFF , 136,902 , bgcolor=#DDEEFF , 75.14 , , bgcolor=#FFE8E8 , Michelle Dyson , bgcolor=#FFE8E8 ,

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 ...

, bgcolor=#FFE8E8 , 45,166 , bgcolor=#FFE8E8 , 24.79 , , colspan=4, , - ,

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...

, Congress, 4th district , General , , , bgcolor=#DDEEFF , Al Wynn , bgcolor=#DDEEFF , Democratic , bgcolor=#DDEEFF , 93,148 , bgcolor=#DDEEFF , 75.03 , , bgcolor=#FFE8E8 , Michelle Dyson , bgcolor=#FFE8E8 ,

, bgcolor=#FFE8E8 , 30,999 , bgcolor=#FFE8E8 , 24.97 , , colspan=4, , - , 1996 , Congress, 4th district , General , , , bgcolor=#DDEEFF , Al Wynn , bgcolor=#DDEEFF , Democratic , bgcolor=#DDEEFF , 142,094 , bgcolor=#DDEEFF , 85.19 , , bgcolor=#FFE8E8 , John B. Kimble , bgcolor=#FFE8E8 ,

, bgcolor=#FFE8E8 , 24,700 , bgcolor=#FFE8E8 , 14.81 , , colspan=4, , - ,

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

, Congress, 4th district , General , , , bgcolor=#DDEEFF , Al Wynn , bgcolor=#DDEEFF , Democratic , bgcolor=#DDEEFF , 129,139 , bgcolor=#DDEEFF , 85.72 , , bgcolor=#FFE8E8 , John B. Kimble , bgcolor=#FFE8E8 ,

, bgcolor=#FFE8E8 , 21,518 , bgcolor=#FFE8E8 , 14.28 , , colspan=4, , - ,

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

, Congress, 4th district , General , , , bgcolor=#DDEEFF , Al Wynn , bgcolor=#DDEEFF , Democratic , bgcolor=#DDEEFF , 172,624 , bgcolor=#DDEEFF , 87.2 , , bgcolor=#FFE8E8 , John B. Kimble , bgcolor=#FFE8E8 ,

, bgcolor=#FFE8E8 , 24,973 , bgcolor=#FFE8E8 , 12.61 , , colspan=4, , - , 2002 , Congress, 4th district , General , , , bgcolor=#DDEEFF , Al Wynn , bgcolor=#DDEEFF , Democratic , bgcolor=#DDEEFF , 131,644 , bgcolor=#DDEEFF , 78.57 , , bgcolor=#FFE8E8 , John B. Kimble , bgcolor=#FFE8E8 ,

, bgcolor=#FFE8E8 , 34,890 , bgcolor=#FFE8E8 , 20.82 , , colspan=4, , - , 2004 , Congress, 4th district , General , , , bgcolor=#DDEEFF , Al Wynn , bgcolor=#DDEEFF , Democratic , bgcolor=#DDEEFF , 196,809 , bgcolor=#DDEEFF , 75.16 , , bgcolor=#FFE8E8 , John McKinnis , bgcolor=#FFE8E8 ,

, bgcolor=#FFE8E8 , 52,907 , bgcolor=#FFE8E8 , 20.2 , , bgcolor=#9DFF9D , Theresa Dudley , bgcolor=#9DFF9D ,

Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combi ...

, bgcolor=#9DFF9D , 11,885 , bgcolor=#9DFF9D , 4.54 , - , 2006 , Congress, 4th district , General , , , bgcolor=#DDEEFF , Al Wynn , bgcolor=#DDEEFF , Democratic , bgcolor=#DDEEFF , 141,897 , bgcolor=#DDEEFF , 80.67 , , bgcolor=#FFE8E8 , Michael Moshe Starkman , bgcolor=#FFE8E8 ,

, bgcolor=#FFE8E8 , 32,792 , bgcolor=#FFE8E8 , 18.64 , , colspan=4,

References

External links

* * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Wynn, Albert 1951 births African-American members of the United States House of Representatives Georgetown University Law Center alumni Living people Democratic Party Maryland state senators Democratic Party members of the Maryland House of Delegates Politicians from Philadelphia University of Pittsburgh alumni Howard University alumni African-American state legislators in Maryland Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Maryland People from Mitchellville, Maryland 21st-century American politicians The Graduate School of Political Management faculty Baptists from Maryland