John Cluster
John W.E. Cluster, Jr. (b. April 9, 1954) is a former Republican member of the Maryland House of Delegates, representing District 8 from 2011 to 2016. Cluster resigned in 2016 to serve as a member of the state's parole commission.[1]
From 2013 to 2015, Cluster served as Deputy Minority Whip.
Biography
Cluster's professional experience includes working as a police officer with the Baltimore County Police Department from 1974 to 1984.
Committee assignments
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Cluster served on the following committees:
| Maryland committee assignments, 2015 |
|---|
| • Judiciary |
2011-2012
In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Cluster served on these committees:
| Maryland committee assignments, 2011 |
|---|
| • Judiciary |
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2014
Elections for the Maryland House of Delegates took place in 2014. A primary election took place on June 24, 2014. The general election was held on November 4, 2014. The filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was February 25, 2014. Incumbent Eric Bromwell, Bill Paulshock and Renee Smith defeated Harry "H.B." Bhandari, Debbie Schillinger, Steve Verch and Kyle Arndreas Williams in the Democratic primary, while incumbent John Cluster, Christian Miele and Norma Secoura were unopposed in the Republican primary. Bromwell, Cluster and Miele defeated Paulshock, Smith, and Secoura for three seats in the general election.[2][3]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican |  Christian Miele |
19.4% | 20,164 | |
| Republican | John Cluster Incumbent |
19.2% | 19,938 | |
| Democratic | Eric Bromwell Incumbent |
16.7% | 17,361 | |
| Democratic | Bill Paulshock | 15.3% | 15,899 | |
| Republican | Norma Secoura | 15.1% | 15,660 | |
| Democratic | Renee Smith | 14.2% | 14,704 | |
| Total Votes | 103,726 | |||
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|---|---|---|
|
Eric Bromwell Incumbent |
22.8% | 5,601 |
| Bill Paulshock |
18.9% | 4,632 |
| Renee Smith |
18.4% | 4,512 |
| Harry "H.B." Bhandari | 15.6% | 3,828 |
| Debbie Schillinger | 12.7% | 3,124 |
| Steve Verch | 7.1% | 1,752 |
| Kyle Arndreas Williams | 4.5% | 1,114 |
| Total Votes | 24,563 | |
2010
Cluster ran in the September 14 primary, along with Joseph Boteler III, Rani Merryman, and Norma Secoura. He finished second to advance to the general election.
Cluster came in second in the general election on November 2, 2010, successfully securing one of three available seats.[4]
| Maryland House of Delegates, District 8 General Election (2010) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | |||
| Joseph Boteler III (R)
|
21,688 | |||
| John Cluster (R)
|
19,462 | |||
| Eric Bromwell (D)
|
19,379 | |||
| Ruth Baisden (D) | 18,640 | |||
| Norma Secoura (R) | 16,458 | |||
| Cal Bowman (D) | 16,101 | |||
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
2016 Republican National Convention
- See also: Republican National Convention, 2016
Cluster was an at-large delegate to the 2016 Republican National Convention from Maryland. All 38 delegates from Maryland were bound to Donald Trump.[5] As of July 13, 2016, Trump had approximately 1,542 delegates. The winner of the Republican nomination needed the support of 1,237 delegates. Trump formally won the nomination on July 19, 2016.
Delegate rules
District-level delegates from Maryland to the Republican National Convention were elected directly by voters in the state primary election on April 26, 2016. At-large delegates were elected at the Republican state convention in May 2016. Delegates from Maryland were bound through the first two rounds of voting unless released by their candidate or their candidate failed to receive 35 percent or more of the vote in the first round of voting.
Maryland primary results
- See also: Presidential election in Maryland, 2016
| Maryland Republican Primary, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | Delegates | |
| Jeb Bush | 0.6% | 2,770 | 0 | |
| Ben Carson | 1.3% | 5,946 | 0 | |
| Chris Christie | 0.3% | 1,239 | 0 | |
| Ted Cruz | 19% | 87,093 | 0 | |
| Carly Fiorina | 0.2% | 1,012 | 0 | |
| Mike Huckabee | 0.2% | 837 | 0 | |
| John Kasich | 23.2% | 106,614 | 0 | |
| Rand Paul | 0.3% | 1,533 | 0 | |
| Marco Rubio | 0.7% | 3,201 | 0 | |
| Rick Santorum | 0.1% | 478 | 0 | |
| Donald Trump |
54.1% | 248,343 | 38 | |
| Totals | 459,066 | 38 | ||
| Source: The New York Times and Maryland Secretary of State | ||||
Delegate allocation
Maryland had 38 delegates at the 2016 Republican National Convention. Of this total, 24 were district-level delegates (three for each of the state's eight congressional districts). Maryland's district delegates were allocated on a winner-take-all basis; the candidate who won a plurality of the vote in a given district received all of that district's delegates.[6][7]
Of the remaining 14 delegates, 11 served at large. Maryland's at-large delegates were allocated on a winner-take-all basis; the candidate who won a plurality of the statewide vote received all of the state's at-large delegates. In addition, three national party leaders (identified on the chart below as RNC delegates) served as bound delegates to the Republican National Convention. The RNC delegates were required to pledge their support to the winner of the state's primary.[6][7]
Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Cluster and his wife, Carla Inners, have two children.
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term John + Cluster + Maryland + Legislature
See also
- Maryland State Legislature
- Maryland House of Delegates
- Maryland House Committees
- Maryland Joint Committees
- Maryland House of Delegates District 8
External links
- Profile from Open States
- Biography from Project Vote Smart
- Legislative Profile from Project Vote Smart
- Campaign contributions: 2010
Footnotes
- ↑ The Washington Post, "Joe Cluster sworn in as Maryland's newest House delegate," accessed September 8, 2016
- ↑ Maryland Secretary of State, "Official primary election candidate list," accessed March 3, 2014
- ↑ Maryland State Board of Elections, "Unofficial Results for the 2014 Gubernatorial Primary Election," accessed June 25, 2014
- ↑ Maryland Secretary of State, "Official general election results," accessed March 4, 2014
- ↑ Maryland State Election Board, "2016 Election Results," accessed May 23, 2016
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Republican National Committee, "2016 Presidential Nominating Process," accessed October 6, 2015
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 CNN.com, "Republican National Convention roll call vote," accessed July 20, 2016
