Glenn Ivey

Glenn Frederick Ivey (born February 27, 1961) is an American politician and attorney who is the Representative-elect for Maryland's 4th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives. A partner at the law firm of Ivey & Levetown, he previously served as the state's attorney for Prince George's County, Maryland, from 2002 to 2011. Ivey won the 2022 Democratic primary for the 4th congressional district over Donna Edwards, who previously represented the district for four terms, and then won the general election against the Republican nominee. According to the Cook Partisan Voting Index, it is one of the most Democratic districts in the country, with an index rating of D+40.

Ivey served on Capitol Hill as chief counsel to Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, as counsel to U.S. Senator Paul Sarbanes during the Whitewater controversy, chief majority counsel to the Senate Banking Committee, and on the staff of U.S. Representative John Conyers. He also worked for U.S. Attorney Eric Holder as an assistant U.S. attorney, and as chair of the Maryland Public Service Commission. He was twice elected as state's attorney for Prince George's County, Maryland.

Early life and education

Ivey was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts, but grew up in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, where much of his extended family lived and his mother worked as the first Black teacher at an all-white school. His immediate family later moved to Dale City, Virginia, after his father got a job with the United States Department of Labor. Ivey graduated with honors from Princeton University, where he earned an A.B. degree in politics in 1983. In 1986, he received a J.D. degree from Harvard Law School.

Career

After graduating from Harvard Law School in 1986, Ivey worked for the Baltimore law firm of Gordon-Feinblatt. From 1987 to 1988, he worked on Capitol Hill as an aide to U.S. Representative John Conyers, after which he returned to the practice of law, working for Preston, Gates, Ellis & Rouvelas.

In 1989, Ivey was hired by the United States Department of Justice to work as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, assistant U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C. While there, he worked for U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Eric Holder. Afterwards, Ivey returned to Capitol Hill to serve as majority counsel to U.S. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Donald Riegle. From 1995 to 1997, he served as the counsel for Senator Paul Sarbanes during the Senate Whitewater controversy, Whitewater investigations. Eventually, Ivey served as chief counsel to Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle until 1998.

In March 1998, Governor Parris Glendening named Ivey to serve as chairman of the Maryland Public Service Commission. While chairman, Ivey oversaw the deregulation of the electric power industry in Maryland and helped the PSC determine how to monitor telephone services and foster competition in the telecommunications industry. On October 18, 2000, Ivey announced that he would resign from the PSC by the end of the month to become a partner at the K&L Gates law firm, and said he was contemplating a 2002 run for Prince George's County State's Attorney.

Ivey ran for Prince George's County State's Attorney in 2002, seeking to succeed outgoing state's attorney Jack B. Johnson. During the primary, he received endorsements from U.S. Representative Albert Wynn, U.S. Senator Paul Sarbanes, and ''The Washington Post''. He defeated deputy state's attorney Mark Spencer during the Democratic primary, receiving 60.0 percent of the vote. He ran unopposed in the general election.

Following the end of his second term as state's attorney, Ivey became a partner at Venable LLP before moving to a position as a partner at Leftwich & Ludaway, in Washington, D.C., from November 2012 to June 2017. Afterwards, Ivey worked as a partner at the District-based law firm Price Benowitz. In 2020, Ivey opened his own law firm of Ivey & Levetown in Greenbelt, Maryland.

Ivey taught trial advocacy at Harvard Law School during winter sessions from 2013 to 2021, and was an adjunct professor for nineteen years at the University of Maryland School of Law, from 1995 to 2014. He is the past president of the D.C. chapter of the Harvard Law School Association, the former Chairman for the Maryland Legal Services Corporation, and is a former member of the D.C. Bar Association's Board of Governors.

In July 2020, Prince George's County executive Angela Alsobrooks appointed Ivey to serve as the chair of the county's Police Reform Task Force. During committee meetings, Ivey scrutinized policies surrounding Terry stop, pretextual traffic stops, which experts say can enable racial profiling and precipitate a police shooting. The committee released its final report on December 3, which included recommendations relating to community engagement, employee hiring and retention, police department finances, internal oversight, and standards and regulations.

Ivey is currently a member of The Sentencing Project's Board of Directors.

Prince George's State's Attorney (2002–2011)

Ivey ran and was elected twice as state's attorney for Prince George's County, Maryland, and served from December 2002 to January 2011. In November 2009, Ivey declined to run for Prince George's County executive or for a third term as state's attorney, instead forming an exploratory committee to look at challenging U.S. Representative Donna Edwards in the 2010 elections. He decided against running for a third term and running against Edwards in January 2010, saying that he wanted to return to the private sector after the end of his term.

When Ivey took office in December 2002, Prince George's County had the second-highest crime rate in Maryland. During his two terms as state's attorney, he oversaw reductions in crime and led reform measures that put cameras in police interrogation rooms and prosecuted officers accused of excessive force. He sought to involve community groups in crafting policies and strategies for tackling crime in the county and partnered with faith leaders to assist domestic violence survivors and to gain tougher sentences for convicted offenders.

In October 2002, following the arrest of D.C. sniper attacks, D.C. snipers Lee Boyd Malvo and John Allen Muhammad, Ivey declined to prosecute the two in his county because of the murder convictions in both Maryland and Virginia.

In July 2008, Ivey's office faced intense public scrutiny to hold someone accountable following the strangulation death of 19-year-old Ronnie White, who was accused of killing a police officer. In December, the grand jury involved in the death investigation had concluded its deliberations, determining that it did not hear enough evidence to bring down indictments in the case. After a year-long investigation, Ivey announced that there was no evidence to support murder charges against jail employees. The United States Department of Justice, Department of Justice also reviewed the case, and would ultimately reach the same conclusion that there was insufficient evidence to charge anyone with murder or manslaughter.

In August 2010, Ivey endorsed Angela Alsobrooks, the executive director of the Prince George's County Revenue Authority, to succeed him as Prince George's County State's Attorney.

U.S House of Representatives

Elections

2012

In October 2011, Ivey said through a spokesperson that he was considering a run for the United States House of Representatives in Maryland's 4th congressional district, challenging incumbent Congresswoman Donna Edwards. He declared his candidacy November 3, 2011, but later dropped out in January 2012, saying he could not raise enough money for his campaign.

2016

In September 2015, Ivey announced that he would again run for the United States House of Representatives in Maryland's 4th congressional district, seeking to succeed U.S. Representative Donna Edwards, who unsuccessfully ran for United States Senate in 2016 United States Senate election in Maryland, 2016.

During the primary, Ivey received endorsements from former United States Attorney General Eric Holder, Prince George's County executive Rushern Baker, state senator Victor R. Ramirez, and a host of municipal leaders. He also led his competitors, including former Maryland lieutenant governor Anthony Brown (Maryland politician), Anthony Brown and state delegate Joseline Peña-Melnyk, in fundraising until the very end of the campaign.

The primary was held on April 26, 2016. Brown defeated Ivey by 41.6 percent to 34.0 percent, with a margin of 8,712 votes out of 114,623 cast. Peña-Melnyk took 19.0 percent. Ivey worked as an attorney in private practice following his loss.

2022

On October 26, 2021, Ivey declared his candidacy for the United States House of Representatives in Maryland's 4th congressional district, seeking to succeed outgoing U.S. Representative Anthony Brown (Maryland politician), Anthony Brown, who ran for Attorney General of Maryland in 2022 Maryland Attorney General election, 2022.

During the primary, he received endorsements from ''The Washington Post'', former Maryland governor Parris Glendening, former Prince George's County executive Rushern Baker, former Montgomery County executive Ike Leggett, and various municipal leaders. The race was described by ''The New York Times'' as a proxy fight over Israel. The United Democracy Project, a Super-PAC, super PAC established by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, spent $5.9 million on Ivey's campaign, while J Street spent $720,000 on the campaign of former U.S. Representative Donna Edwards. Ivey downplayed the help he received from AIPAC and its allies, telling ''The Post'' that while the outside groups' support was "extremely helpful", voters in the district weren't especially concerned about Israel.

While there was outside spending in the 2022 Democratic primary, Ivey managed to turn a 13-point deficit into a 5-point lead over Edwards by early June, weeks before United Democracy Project began running TV ads on June 17.

The primary was held on July 19, 2022. Ivey defeated Edwards by 51.8 percent to 35.2 percent, by a margin of 13,677 votes out of 82,662 cast. Former state delegate Angela Angel, a lesser known candidate, took 5.7 percent of the vote.

Ivey won the general election on November 8, 2022, defeating Republican nominee Jeff Warner.

Caucus Memberships

* New Democrat Coalition

Personal life

Ivey has been married since 1988 to Jolene Ivey, a former Maryland delegate and current member of the Prince George's County, Maryland# County executive and council, Prince George's County Council. They have six children, including Maryland delegate Julian Ivey, and live in Cheverly, Maryland.

In February 2004, Ivey took a leave of absence of several weeks to undergo surgery to remove a bean-sized cancer tumor on his kidney. His doctors told him that the cancer was detected early and his chances of a full recovery were good. He has been cancer-free since.

Political positions

Capital punishment

When Ivey first took office as state's attorney in 2002, Ivey said that he believed in using the death penalty. Ivey sought the use of the death penalty several times throughout his tenure as state's attorney, and said in November 2007 that he filed notice of his intent to seek death in case about once a year.

In February 2009, Ivey testified before the Maryland House of Delegates' Judicial Proceedings Committee that he had a change of heart during his time as state's attorney, particularly because of the effect the process had on families of victims. In January 2012, Ivey called the death penalty a "political tool" and pushed for a bill that would repeal the death penalty in Maryland during the 2012 legislative session.

Environment

In July 2022, an Ivey campaign aide told Environment & Energy Publishing that Ivey supported the Green New Deal and a quick transition away from fossil fuels.

Foreign policy

Iran

Ivey opposes the Iran nuclear deal negotiated by the Obama administration in 2015, and said in December 2021 that he would want a commitment to "full and neutral inspections [of Iranian nuclear sites]" and an end to Iran's funding of Hamas and Hezbollah before the U.S. reenters the deal.

Israel

In 2006, Ivey traveled to Israel with other local elected officials on a Jewish Community Relations Council trip.

Ivey supports a two-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict and "Israel's right to exist and defend itself". In December 2021, Ivey said that he would vote to fund Israel's Iron Dome missile-defense system and opposed placing conditions on U.S. foreign aid to Israel to leverage components of negotiations about a two-state solution.

Ivey opposes the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel.

Healthcare

Ivey supports Medicare for All. He also supports the legalization of recreational marijuana.

Police funding

During his 2022 House of Representatives campaign, Ivey said he would seek to tie federal police funding to departments serious about rethinking policing tactics. He also said he would be willing to work with police to fight crime while "holding accountable" officers engaged in misconduct. He does not support the "Defund the Police" movement, arguing that it damaged Democrats electorally and served as a "distraction" from real issues.

Social issues

In October 2012, Ivey appeared in an ad to support 2012 Maryland Question 6, Question 6, a referendum to support the legalization of same-sex marriage in Maryland.

Electoral history

References

External links

Glenn Ivey for Congress
campaign website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ivey, Glenn
1961 births
20th-century African-American people
21st-century African-American people
African-American lawyers
African-American people in Maryland politics
Harvard Law School alumni
Living people
Maryland Democrats
People from Chelsea, Massachusetts
People from Rocky Mount, North Carolina
People from Dale City, Virginia
People from Prince George's County, Maryland
Princeton University alumni
State's attorneys in Maryland