Nathaniel Oaks
Nathaniel T. Oaks (b. October 19, 1946) is a former Democratic member of the Maryland State Senate, representing District 41 from 2017 to 2018. He was appointed to the chamber on February 10, 2017, to replace Lisa Gladden (D). Oaks resigned from his seat on March 29, 2018, due to charges of federal bribery and obstruction of justice.[1] He pleaded guilty to the charges later that day.[2]
Oaks served in the Maryland House of Delegates, representing District 41 from 1995 to 2017. He previously served a term from 1983 to 1989.
Biography
Nathaniel Oaks was born and lives in Baltimore, Maryland. He earned a bachelor's degree in business from Morgan State College in 1974. Oaks' career experience includes working as an urban scientist and an insurance agent.[3]
Committee assignments
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Oaks served on the following committees:
| Maryland committee assignments, 2015 |
|---|
| • Health & Government Operations |
| • Administrative, Executive and Legislative Review |
| • Audit |
2011-2012
In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Oaks served on these committees:
| Maryland committee assignments, 2011 |
|---|
| • Health & Government Operations |
Note: Oaks also served on the Subcommittee on Government Operations and the Subcommittee on Public Health and Long Term Care.
2009-2010
In the 2009-2010 legislative session, Oaks served on these committees:
| Maryland committee assignments, 2009 |
|---|
| • Audit |
| • Children, Youth, & Families |
| • Health & Government Operations |
Note: Oaks also served on the Subcommittee on Government Operations and the Subcommittee on Public Health and Long Term Care.
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. Incumbents Jill P. Carter, Nathaniel T. Oaks and Samuel I. "Sandy" Rosenberg defeated Michael Pearson and Joyce J. Smith in the Democratic primary and were unopposed in the general election. Chancellor Torbit (D) ran as a write-in candidate.[4][5][6]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic |  Jill Carter Incumbent |
35.3% | 24,038 | |
| Democratic | Samuel Rosenberg Incumbent |
32.8% | 22,284 | |
| Democratic | Nathaniel Oaks Incumbent |
31.7% | 21,551 | |
| Democratic | Chancellor Torbit (write-in) | 0.2% | 154 | |
| Total Votes | 68,027 | |||
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|---|---|---|
|
Jill P. Carter Incumbent |
31% | 12,081 |
| Nathaniel T. Oaks Incumbent |
26.2% | 10,226 |
| Samuel I. "Sandy" Rosenberg Incumbent |
25.6% | 9,988 |
| Joyce J. Smith | 10.3% | 4,028 |
| Michael Pearson | 6.8% | 2,646 |
| Total Votes | 38,969 | |
2010
Oaks successfully won re-election in the general election on November 2, 2010, taking the third of three seats.[7]
| Maryland House of Delegates, District 41 General Election (2010) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | |||
| Jill Carter (D)
|
24,985 | |||
| Samuel Rosenberg (D)
|
22,654 | |||
| Nathaniel Oaks (D)
|
21,931 | |||
| Mark Ehrlichman (R) | 4,723 | |||
2006
On November 7, 2006, Nathaniel Oaks ran for District 41 of the Maryland House of Delegates, winning the third of three seats, losing to Jill Carter and Samuel Rosenberg but beating Tony Asa.[8]
Nathaniel Oaks raised $64,792 for his campaign.[9]
| Maryland House of Delegates, District 41 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | Percent | ||
| Jill Carter (D) | 24,189 | 33.7% | ||
| Samuel Rosenberg (D) | 21,751 | 30.3% | ||
| Nathaniel Oaks (D) | 20,570 | 28.6% | ||
| Tony Asa (R) | 5,166 | 7.2% | ||
| Write-Ins | 129 | 0.2% | ||
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.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Maryland scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2018
In 2018, the Maryland General Assembly was in session from January 10 through April 9.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to environmental issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on issues related to consumer interests.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to reproductive health.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
2017
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2017, click [show]. |
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In 2017, the Maryland General Assembly was in session from January 11 through April 10.
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2016
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2016, click [show]. |
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In 2016, the Maryland General Assembly was in session from January 13 through April 11.
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2015
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2015, click [show]. |
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In 2015, the Maryland General Assembly was in session from January 14 through April 13.
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2014
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2014, click [show]. |
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In 2014, the Maryland General Assembly was in session from January 8 to April 7.
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2013
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2013, click [show]. |
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In 2013, the Maryland General Assembly was in session from January 9 to April 8.
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Noteworthy events
Corruption investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) opened a corruption investigation into Oaks in August 2014. According to unsealed court documents made available in December 2017, an FBI agent wrote that Oaks came under investigation at the time "based on historical reporting that Oaks was associated with individuals who were involved in illegal activities, and that Oaks had inappropriately accepted money and other things of value from businesspersons and lobbyists in his capacity as a state delegate.”[10]
In April 2017, a criminal complaint was filed against Oaks alleging that he had committed wire fraud. According to the complaint, Oaks purportedly received cash in exchange for using his authority as a member of the Maryland House of Delegates to influence a real estate development project. In June 2017, a federal grand jury indicted Oaks on three additional counts of wire fraud as well as five violations of the Travel Act related to the use of cellphones while engaged in criminal activity. Oaks pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.[11][12]
In November 2017, Oaks was later charged with obstruction of justice for allegedly tipping off another individual under investigation by the FBI. On January 5, 2018, The Baltimore Sun reported that, according to court documents, Oaks had confessed to accepting cash payments in exchange for his legislative influence, though he continued to plead not guilty to the charges against him. That same day, Governor Larry Hogan (R) called on Oaks to resign, stating, "No question he should be removed from office." On January 9, 2018, state Senate President Thomas Mike Miller (D) stated his intention to refer Oaks' federal corruption charges to the Maryland General Assembly’s Ethics Committee.[12][13][14] The ethics investigation was suspended in February on the advice of federal prosecutors.[15]
On January 19, 2018, a federal judge ruled that two separate trials would be held for the fraud and obstruction of justice charges. The trial for the obstruction charges was scheduled for April 16, 2018. The trial date for the fraud charges was set for August 20, 2018.[16][17]
Oaks was removed from his Maryland State Senate committee positions on February 26, 2018. The Baltimore Sun reported that the action was "the most severe punishment Senate leaders can take without a finding of wrongdoing from an ethics committee investigation."[15]
He resigned from his seat on March 29, 2018.[1] He pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud later that day. In exchange, eight charges against Oaks were dropped. U.S. District Court Judge Richard Bennett scheduled Oaks' sentencing hearing for July 17.[2][18]
On July 17, 2018, Oaks was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison followed by three years of supervised release and ordered to pay a $30,000 fine and complete 80 hours of community service.[19]
Primary election ballot
After Oaks' resignation, state officials confirmed that he would remain on the primary election ballot on June 26, 2018.[20] On April 11, 2018, Oaks announced his support for efforts to have his name removed from the primary ballot.[21] On April 22, 2018, Oaks agreed to have his name removed from the voter rolls, disqualifying him as a candidate and removing his name from the ballot.[22] In June 2018, Oaks re-registered to vote. Although he did not explain why he re-registered to vote, he said becoming a senator again was not the reason.[23]
Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Oaks is a member of the Pimlico Community Development Authority, Maryland Bicycle and Pedestrian Caucus, Lead Poisoning Prevention Commission, and the Maryland Legislative Black Caucus.[24]
See also
- Maryland State Legislature
- Maryland House of Delegates
- Maryland House Committees
- Maryland Joint Committees
- Maryland House of Delegates District 41
- Maryland State Senate
- Maryland Senate Committees
- Maryland State Senate District 41
External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- Profile from Open States
- Legislative profile from Project Vote Smart
- Biography from Project Vote Smart
- Campaign contributions: 2008, 2006, 2004, 2002, 1998
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Seattle Times, "Official: Indicted Maryland lawmaker submits resignation," March 28, 2018
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Baltimore Sun, "Former Baltimore Sen. Nathaniel Oaks pleads guilty to corruption charges," March 29, 2018
- ↑ Vote Smart, "Nathaniel Oaks' Biography," accessed April 27, 2018
- ↑ Maryland Secretary of State, "Official primary election candidate list," accessed March 3, 2014
- ↑ Maryland State Board of Elections, "Official 2014 Gubernatorial Primary Election results for House of Delegates," accessed December 5, 2014
- ↑ Maryland State Board of Elections, "2014 Official General Election Results," accessed April 30, 2015
- ↑ Maryland Secretary of State, "Official general election results," accessed March 4, 2014
- ↑ Maryland State Board of Elections, "Official 2006 Gubernatorial General Election results for House of Delegates," accessed March 24, 2014
- ↑ Follow the Money, "Oaks' 2006 campaign contributions," accessed March 25, 2014
- ↑ The Baltimore Sun, "Newly unsealed documents detail FBI investigation of state Sen. Nathaniel Oaks," December 7, 2017
- ↑ The Baltimore Sun, "Baltimore Sen. Nathaniel Oaks indicted on nine fraud and bribery counts," June 1, 2017
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 The Baltimore Sun, "Senator Oaks faces new federal charge of obstructing justice," November 15, 2017
- ↑ The Baltimore Sun, "Feds: Indicted Baltimore state senator confessed to taking cash payments," January 5, 2018
- ↑ The Baltimore Sun, "As calls grow for Oaks to resign, Senate president refers case to Ethics Committee," January 9, 2018
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 The Baltimore Sun, "Maryland Senate leader strips Baltimore Sen. Nathaniel Oaks of committee jobs," February 26, 2018
- ↑ The Baltimore Sun, "Judge grants Sen. Oaks separate trials on fraud, obstruction allegations," January 19, 2018
- ↑ Maryland Matters, "Sen. Oaks' second corruption trial set to begin in August," February 23, 2018
- ↑ Fox News, "Former Maryland Democratic state senator pleads guilty to accepting bribes," March 29, 2018
- ↑ Baltimore Business Journal, "Former Maryland Sen. Nathaniel Oaks sentenced to 3.5 years," July 17, 2018
- ↑ U.S. News, "Despite Guilty Plea, Ex-Senator Will Appear on June Ballot ," March 31, 2018
- ↑ The Baltimore Sun, "Ex-state Sen. Nathaniel Oaks seeks to remove his own name from Baltimore primary ballot," April 11, 2018
- ↑ The Baltimore Sun, "Former state Sen. Nathaniel Oaks agrees to give up voter registration in bid to get his name off the ballot," April 23, 2018
- ↑ The Baltimore Sun, "Former Baltimore Sen. Oaks re-registers to vote, making him technically eligible to serve if elected," June 12, 2018
- ↑ Project Vote Smart, "Nathaniel Oaks' Biography," accessed March 25, 2014
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Lisa Gladden (D) |
Maryland Senate District 41 2017 - 2018 |
Succeeded by NA |
