Federal Elected Officials

Senator Benjamin L. Cardin was elected to the United States Senate in 2006. Senator Cardin serves on five critical senate committees: Foreign Relations, Environment and Public Works, Finance, and Small Business. He also is Ranking Member on the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (the U.S. Helsinki Commission). In addition, he is Chair of one of the three international committees of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Parliamentary Assembly that deals with economics and the environment.

In 2001, he was named by Worth Magazine as among the top “100 people who have influenced the way Americans think about money.” In 2004, he was named to Treasury and Risk Management’s list of “100 Most Influential People in Finance.” Previously, Sen. Cardin represented Maryland’s Third Congressional District in the House of Representatives from 1987 to 2006 and served as Speaker of the House in Maryland’s General Assembly.

Senator Chris Van Hollen was elected to the United States Senate in 2016. Senator Van Hollen serves on four Senate committees: Appropriations, Banking, Budget, and Agriculture. Senator Van Hollen has been recognized for his efforts and leadership in a range of areas of including education, foreign policy, environmental protection, protecting the rights of federal employees and civil rights.

Roll Call newspaper named him one of the “rising stars” in Congress and the Washington Post noted that Van Hollen “has distinguished himself as a shrewd legislative player.” Previously, he represented Maryland’s Eighth Congressional District in the House of Representatives from 2003 to 2016. He also served in Maryland’s House of Delegates from 1991 to 1995, and the State Senate from 1995 to 2003.

House Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer is the senior member of the Maryland Democratic House Delegation and has represented Maryland’s Fifth Congressional District since 1981. Hoyer served as the House Majority Leader from 2007-2011. As House Democratic Whip for the 112th Congress, Congressman Hoyer is the second-ranking member of the House Democratic Leadership.

He is charged with mobilizing the party vote on important legislation, acting as a liaison between Members and the Democratic Leadership, and coordinating strategy within the Caucus. He also plays a key role in shaping House Democrats’ legislative priorities and in delivering the Democratic message.

Congressman Dutch Ruppersberger has represented Maryland’s Second Congressional District since being elected in 2002. Congressman Ruppersberger was the first Democratic freshman ever to be appointed to the powerful House Select Committee on Intelligence. The committee oversees the collection and analysis of intelligence information from all around the world to ensure our national security and prevent potential crisis situations – especially terrorist activity. He also serves on the Armed Services Committee.

Congressman Ruppersberger was hand-picked by the Democratic Leadership and named an Assistant Whip. In this prestigious position he meets regularly with the House leadership to help set legislative priorities and to ensure the passage of key measures.

Congressman Ruppersberger serves on the Government Reform Committee, the investigative arm of Congress, where he works to prevent government fraud and waste and to craft reforms to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of government programs. The Congressman was also elected by his freshman Democratic peers to represent them on the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee.

Congressman John Sarbanes was elected on November 7, 2006 succeeding Senator Ben Cardin as the representative from Maryland’s 3rd Congressional District. Rep. Sarbanes serves on the Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Committee on Natural Resources. Rep. Sarbanes has nearly two decades of experience in health care and education from the private, public and non-profit sectors.

He served as Chair of the Health Care Practice at Venable, one of the nation’s leading law firms, where he represented non-profit hospitals and senior living providers in their mission to deliver high quality care to the people of Maryland. For nearly twenty years, Rep. Sarbanes has worked to improve public education having recently completed a seven-year tenure as special assistant to the State Superintendent of Schools, serving as liaison to the Baltimore City Public Schools under the City-State Partnership.

Congressman Anthony Brown was elected to represent Maryland’s 4th Congressional District on November 8, 2016.

Congressman Brown is a member of the House Armed Services Committee, House Committee on Natural Resources, and the House Committee on Ethics.

Congressman Brown began has a long standing commitment to defending our nation and public service. He is a retired Colonel in the United States Army Reserve, and previously served as an aviator and JAG officer.

He represented Maryland previously as a Delegate from Prince George’s County and later as Lieutenant Governor.

Congressman David Trone was elected to represent Maryland’s 6^th District on November 6, 2018.

Congressman Trone is a member of the Education and Labor Committee and the Foreign Affairs Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives.

As the founder and former CEO of a successful company, Congressman Trone brings his experience in the private sector to his time in Congress. He looks forward to bringing compassion, competence, and civility to Washington during his first term.

Mfume was born, raised and educated in the city of Baltimore. He attended Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland where as an honors student he graduated magna cum laude. He later returned there to join the staff as an adjunct professor teaching courses in Political Science and Communications. He was voted the University’s 2013 Alumnus of the Year.

By the age of thirty-one he won his first election to the Baltimore City Council. During his seven years of service in local government, he chaired the City Council’s Committee on Health Policy and led the efforts to diversify city government, improve community safety, enhance business development and divest city funds from the then apartheid government of South Africa. He enrolled in and graduated from the Johns Hopkins University in 1984, earning a Master’s degree in Liberal Arts with a concentration in International Studies.

At the age of thirty-eight, he was decisively elected to the United States Congress to represent Maryland’s 7th District, a seat that he would hold for the next decade during the terms of Presidents Reagan, Bush Sr. and Clinton. As a member of the House of Representatives, Congressman Mfume was served on several committees. He served on the Banking and Financial Services Committee and held the ranking seat on the General Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee. He also served as a member of the Committee on Education and helped to impact commerce and industry matters as a senior member of the Small Business Committee. While in his third term, he was chosen by the Speaker of the House to serve on the Ethics Committee and the Joint Economic Committee of the House and Senate where he was later elected Chairman.

Congressman Mfume consistently advocated landmark business and civil rights legislation. He successfully co-sponsored and helped to pass the Americans with Disabilities Act, strengthened the Equal Credit Opportunity Law and co-authored and successfully amended the Civil Rights Bill of 1991 to apply its provisions to U.S. citizens working for American-based companies abroad. He also sponsored legislative initiatives banning assault weapons and establishing stalking as a federal crime.

Congressman Mfume served as both Vice-Chair and later Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus. He was regularly designated to preside as Speaker Pro Tempore of the House of Representatives. During his fifth term in office, he was appointed by his Caucus as Vice-Chairman for Communications.

Kweisi Mfume left his Congressional seat in 1996 to become President and Chief Executive Officer of the NAACP. During his nine years with the organization, he significantly raised the national profile of the NAACP while helping to restore its prominence among the nation’s civil rights organizations. Throughout his tenure he helped establish 75 new college-based NAACP chapters across the nation. In 2000, Mfume worked to negotiate, develop and author the first ever signed Network Television Diversity Agreements with NBC, ABC, CBS and Fox. In 2003, he helped negotiate for and successfully secured the NAACP’s official United Nations’ Status as a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO).

Mfume was sworn-in into the 116th U.S. Congress on May 5, 2020, after winning a special election to fill the remainder of the term after Congressman Elijah Cummings, the incumbent representative (and his friend of 42 years), died in office in October 2019. Mfume currently serves on the House Oversight Committee and the Small Business Committee.

Congressman Jamie Raskin was elected to represent Maryland’s 8th Congressional District on November 8, 2016.

Congressman Raskin is the Vice-Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee. He also serves on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and the Committee on House Administration.

Representative Raskin is a lifelong advocate for civil rights and liberties, and previously served as a State Senator in the General Assembly.