Get to know your Senator
Teacher and Community Leader
Born in Philadelphia to two healthcare professionals, hard work and community have long-served as critical pillars in Dr. Mary Washington's life. After receiving her bachelor's degree at Antioch University, she began her professional career teaching at a Catholic elementary school. Her dedication to serving at-risk students and her drive to understand the needs of urban communities brought her to Baltimore to study sociology at The Johns Hopkins University where she earned her PhD in 1997.
Dr. Washington returned to Pennsylvania for a teaching position at Lehigh University and a post-doctoral fellowship at the Population Studies Center at the University of Pennsylvania. Ultimately, Baltimore called her back and has been her chosen home for nearly two decades where she served her city and community in various positions from the Director of the Housing Stat Office at the Housing Authority of Baltimore City, to the Associate Director at the Parks & People Foundation.
In 2010, Dr. Mary Washington made history as the first openly LGBTQ+ African-American elected official in Maryland, only the second such legislator in the country, when she was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates.
Honest and Trustworthy Leadership
Dr. Washington was elected to the Maryland State Senate in 2018 and has spent over 20 years working for Maryland's 43rd District as a legislator, advocate, and a student of public policy. In nearly a decade as Delegate and Senator, she has distinguished herself as a leader by fighting for affordable access to water, protecting families at risk of losing their homes to unfair tax sales and foreclosures, making sure Baltimore City schools get the fair and equitable funding they deserve, and helping unaccompanied homeless youths get the services and support they need to succeed. From 2015 - 16, she served as the Deputy Majority Whip. She continued her fight to pass the Water Taxpayer Protection Act, putting an end to the practice of selling homes due to unaffordable and incorrect water bills, in 2019.
As a Delegate, she served on the Joint Committee on Homelessness as the House Chairperson; the Joint Committee on Children, Youth and Families; the House Appropriations Committee; the House Ways and Means Committee; the Regional Revitalization Task Force; and the Tax Credit Evaluation Committee.
Today, Senator Washington is a member of Women Legislators of Maryland, the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland, is an Associate Member of the Latino Legislative Caucus, and serves on the Education, Energy, and the Environment (EEE) Committee. She is currently the Chair of the Administrative, Executive, and Legislative Review (AELR) Committee, and Chair of the Subcommittee on Education for the EEE committee. She passed 11 pieces of legislation in 2023, and 6 pieces in 2024, including the Trans Health Equity Act (SB459 - 2023) and new Pathways to Teacher Certification (SB771 - 2024). You can learn more about her legislative agenda here . She currently sits on the Accessory Dwelling Unit Taskforce, and the Student Data Privacy Council. She remains an active member of the Maryland State Legislature, with a great vision for Maryland’s future.
