Mary L. Washington

Mary Lynn Washington (born May 20, 1962) is an American politician who has served as a member of the Maryland Senate from District 43 since 2019. She previously represented the district in the Maryland House of Delegates from 2011 to 2019.

Early life and education
Washington was born as the oldest of six children and raised in West Philadelphia, where she graduated from the Philadelphia High School for Girls. She later attended Antioch University, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in human services in 1989. Washington moved to Baltimore in 1992 to attend Johns Hopkins University, where she earned Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in sociology and submitted a doctoral dissertation on the United States census' influence on national identity.

Career
Washington worked as an assistant professor at Lehigh University from 1995 to 2002, afterwards working as a research fellow for the University of Pennsylvania. From 2002 to 2005, she became the director of the Baltimore Housing Authority's HousingStat office.

Washington first got involved in politics in 2006, when she unsuccessfully ran for the Maryland House of Delegates in District 43. She ran again in 2010, in which she won the Democratic primary, placing third with 25.1 percent of the vote, and ran unopposed in the general election.

Maryland House of Delegates
Washington was sworn into the Maryland House of Delegates on January 12, 2011. Upon her swearing in, she became the first openly lesbian African-American elected official in the state.

On September 7, 2017, Washington announced her candidacy for the Maryland Senate in District 43 in 2018, challenging incumbent state senator Joan Carter Conway. She defeated Conway in the Democratic primary in an upset on June 26, 2018, by a margin of 492 votes, and ran unopposed in the general election.

Committee assignments

 * Appropriations Committee, 2011–2015 (transportation & the environment subcommittee, 2011–2012; oversight committee on personnel, 2011–2015; education & economic development subcommittee, 2013–2015)
 * Ways and Means Committee, 2015–2019 (education subcommittee, 2015–2019; finance resources subcommittee, 2015–2017; revenues subcommittee, 2015–2019; election law subcommittee, 2017–2019)
 * Regional Revitalization Work Group, 2013–2019
 * Joint Committee on Children, Youth, and Families, 2015–2019
 * Tax Credit Evaluation Committee, 2015–2019
 * House Co-chair, Joint Committee on Ending Homelessness, 2015–2019
 * Joint Committee on Administrative, Executive and Legislative Review, 2017–2019

Maryland Senate
Washington was sworn into the Maryland Senate on January 9, 2019. Upon her swearing in, she became the first openly gay African-American person and the first openly gay woman to serve in the state. She ran for re-election unopposed in 2022.

Committee assignments

 * Education, Energy and the Environment Committee, 2023–present
 * Senate Chair, Joint Committee on Administrative, Executive and Legislative Review, 2023–present
 * Joint Committee on the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area, 2020–present
 * Senate Vaccine Oversight Work Group, 2021–present
 * Senate Chair, Joint Committee on Children, Youth, and Families, 2019–2022
 * Senate Co-chair, Joint Committee on Ending Homelessness, 2019–2022
 * Judicial Proceedings Committee, 2019
 * Co-chair, Work Group to Study Shelter and Supportive Services for Unaccompanied Homeless Minors, 2019–2020
 * Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee, 2020–2022 (education subcommittee, 2020–2022; alcohol subcommittee, 2021–2022)

2020 Baltimore mayoral campaign
On November 19, 2019, Washington announced her candidacy for mayor of Baltimore in 2020, challenging incumbent mayor Jack Young. She entered the race at a financial disadvantage, but quickly rose money during the election campaign, reporting $155,000 cash on hand by January 2020, the fourth most of any candidate. During the primary, Washington received endorsements from the Service Employees International Union Local 500, NARAL Pro-Choice Maryland, Baltimore Women United, and Our Revolution Baltimore.

On March 16, 2020, Washington suspended her campaign for mayor, citing the COVID-19 pandemic. She initially declined to endorse another candidate in the race, but later endorsed Democratic nominee Brandon Scott shortly before the general election. Had she won the Democratic primary and general election, she would have become the city's first openly LGBTQ person to serve as mayor of Baltimore.

In September 2020, Baltimore Comptroller-elect Bill Henry announced that Washington would co-chair his transition team.

Political positions
Washington has been described as a progressive, including by herself.

Crime and policing
During the 2014 legislative session, Washington introduced legislation to make it illegal to shackle incarcerated women while they are in labor or recovering from giving birth. The unanimously passed the Maryland General Assembly and was signed into law by Governor Martin O'Malley. In March 2019, she was the lone senator to vote against a bill to allow for "enhanced penalties" when a person kills a pregnant woman.

During the 2019 legislative session, Washington said she "strongly and unconditionally opposed" legislation that would allow Johns Hopkins University to have its own private police force. She was one of two state senators to vote against the bill.

During the 2020 legislative session, Washington introduced bills to require Maryland to operate a standalone prerelease center for women that would provide "trauma informed prerelease services". During her mayoral campaign, she said she supported establishing local control of the Baltimore Police Department.

Education
During the 2016 legislative session, Washington supported legislation that would eliminate standardized testing in prekindergarten and kindergarten. She added that while she did not oppose standardized testing, she did not consider assessments to be the best way to improve instruction for students at these age groups.

In March 2018, Washington said she opposed a bill placing a referendum on the 2018 ballot to legalize sports betting at casinos and racetracks to fund education, calling the expansion of gambling a "tax on the poor".

In July 2019, Washington co-signed a letter to the Maryland State Department of Education calling for topics on the LGBT and Disability rights movements to be added to social studies curricula.

During her 2020 mayoral campaign, Washington said she supported the Blueprint for Maryland's Future and criticized the city's police spending, adding that she would fully fund the city's "community schools approach". In March 2020, she voted against amendments to the Blueprint bill that would create a "checkpoint" to test the success of the reforms by 2026, and proposed an amendment that would require school systems to increase salaries for non-teacher school employees by $3 an hour.

In December 2022, administrators of Maryland's 529 college savings plan discovered a calculation error affecting all 31,000 prepaid accounts, which led to the Maryland Prepaid College Trust suspending interest payments and preventing families from accessing their prepaid plans. Following this, Washington sent a letter to Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown asking him to investigate the 529 agency.

Environment
In February 2018, Washington said she supported banning fracking in Maryland.

In March 2023, after it was announced that the Back River Wastewater Treatment Plant would treat 675,000 gallons of wastewater from the 2023 Ohio train derailment, Washington introduced legislation to block the plant from processing any wastewater.

Gun control
In March 2015, Washington voted against legislation to allow school resource officers in Baltimore to carry guns inside of schools. In October 2016, she said she supported bills to restrict high-caliber guns, citing their use in violent crimes in Baltimore.

Housing and development
In May 2020, Washington said she supported a right to counsel in eviction cases.

In February 2023, Washington denounced Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott's approval of the Baltimore Gas and Electric conduit deal, calling it a "disdain for Baltimore City voters" and an "abuse of power".

In June 2023, Washington said she opposed plans to install a crematorium at a funeral home in the Govans neighborhood of Baltimore, citing its environmental impacts to its surrounding community.

Marijuana
During the 2017 legislative session, Washington introduced legislation that would legalize and tax recreational marijuana.

National politics
Washington served as a convention delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 2012, pledged to President Barack Obama, and 2020, pledged to former Vice President Joe Biden. She supported Biden's selection of U.S. Senator Kamala Harris as his vice president. In November 2020, following the 2020 United States presidential election, Washington signed CASA de Maryland's Count Every Vote petition objecting against Republican efforts to invalidate 2.5 million mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania be counted.

Social issues
During the 2012 legislative session, Washington supported the Civil Marriage Protection Act, which legalized same-sex marriage in Maryland. She opposed Question 6, a 2012 referendum that sought to repeal the Civil Marriage Protection Act. During the 2019 legislative session, Washington introduced legislation that would allow the Maryland Department of Transportation to issue gender-neutral driver's licenses. In 2023, she introduced the Trans Health Equity Act, a bill that would require the state's Medicaid program to cover gender-affirming treatment, which passed and was signed into law by Governor Wes Moore.

During the 2013 legislative session, Washington introduced legislation to establish a task force to develop recommendations on how to address youth homelessness in Maryland, which passed and became law. She introduced legislation in 2014 to adopt the task force's recommendations and create the Maryland Homeless Youth Count Demonstration Project, which also passed and became law. During the 2021 legislative session, she introduced a bill that would make homeless youth eligible for tuition waivers, which passed and was signed into law by Governor Larry Hogan in May 2021.

In March 2018, Washington was one of three female members of the Maryland General Assembly to refuse to sign onto a letter pushing back against a report on sexual harassment in the legislature, calling it an attempt by legislative leaders to "control the narrative" on the topic of harassment in the State House. In June 2018, after The Baltimore Sun published a story revealing that state delegate Curt Anderson was under investigation for allegations of sexual assault, she sent a letter to leaders of the Maryland General Assembly questioning the pace of the investigation and calling for the release of an interim report. After Anderson was removed from leadership positions in August 2018, Washington said that his punishment was "too little and too late" and pushed for a resolution to allow Anderson to withdraw from the general election.

During her 2020 mayoral campaign, Washington said she would not support appointing a city manager, saying it should be the role of the mayor to run the city.

During the 2021 legislative session, Washington introduced a bill that would remove all flavored tobacco products from the market.

Taxes
During the 2016 legislative session, Washington introduced legislation to provide $2,500-a-year tax credits for first responders who buy homes in Baltimore.

In June 2017, Washington supported calls to place a moratorium on tax sales of homes with unpaid water bills, adding that the city should investigate all tax sales over the past three years into whether any properties were sold over questionable bills. During the 2019 legislative session, she introduced legislation that would ban Baltimore from placing liens against properties over unpaid water bills. The bill unanimously passed the Maryland General Assembly.

During her 2020 mayoral campaign, Washington said she supported investing into small and minority-owned businesses and cutting the city's property tax.

During the 2022 legislative session, Washington introduced legislation that would exempt diabetic care products from the state sales tax. The bill passed unanimously and was signed into law by Governor Larry Hogan on April 1, 2022.

Personal life
Washington is openly lesbian, having come out to her family while she was in high school. She is married to her wife, Jodi Kelber-Kaye, whom she met during her unsuccessful campaign for state delegate in 2006 and began dating in February 2008. Together, they live in the Ednor Gardens-Lakeside neighborhood of Baltimore.

Washington was raised as a Catholic, but is now a Presbyterian and a member of the First and Franklin Presbyterian Church.