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Stephanie Rawlings-Blake
Stephanie Rawlings-Blake (b. March 17, 1970) is the former mayor of Baltimore, Maryland. She succeeded former mayor Sheila Dixon on February 4, 2010, when the latter resigned as part of a plea deal amidst corruption charges.[1] At the time, Rawlings-Blake was the president of the Baltimore City Council, a position she had held since 2007. Based on Article IV, Sec. 2 of the Baltimore City Charter, the president of city council is first in the line of succession for mayor.[2]
Rawlings-Blake was formally elected to a full term in November 2011. Her first full term, however, was approximately a year longer than a typical mayoral term, ending in 2016 instead of 2015. In 2012, the city of Baltimore chose to move its municipal elections from odd years to even years in order to align them with statewide and federal elections. Proponents of the change argued that this would increase voter turnout. She did not run for re-election in 2016.[3]
Before becoming mayor, Rawlings-Blake was a member of the Baltimore City Council from 1995-2010, representing District 6 from 2004-2007 and District 5 from 1995-2004. She served as council president from 2007-2010. When Rawlings-Blake was first elected in 1995, she was twenty-five years old, which made her the youngest person ever elected to the Baltimore City Council.[4]
Biography
Rawlings-Blake was born in Baltimore, Maryland on March 17, 1970. She obtained a B.A. in political science from Oberlin College and a J.D. from the University of Maryland School of Law. Her professional experience includes working as an attorney for the Baltimore Office of the Public Defender from 1998-2006.[4] In June 2014, she was elected as the Vice-President of the U.S. Conference of Mayors.[5]
Career
Below is an abbreviated outline of Rawlings-Blake's professional and political career:[4]
2014-2016: U.S. Conference of Mayors, Vice-President
2010-2016: Mayor of Baltimore
2007-2010: Baltimore City Council, President
2004-2007: Baltimore City Council, District 6
1998-2006: Baltimore Office of the Public Defender, Attorney
1995-2004: Baltimore City Council, District 5
Elections
2011
In the 2011 general election for mayor, Rawlings-Blake defeated Alfred Griffin (R).
| Mayor of Baltimore, 2011 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Stephanie Rawlings-Blake |
86.8% | 40,125 | |
| Republican | Alfred Griffin | 13.2% | 6,108 | |
| Total Votes | 46,233 | |||
| Source: Baltimore City Elections Results 2011 | ||||
2016 Democratic National Convention
- See also: Democratic National Convention, 2016
| Stephanie Rawlings-Blake | |
| Democratic National Convention, 2016 | |
| Status: | Superdelegate |
| State: | Maryland |
| Supporting: | Unknown |
| Delegates to the DNC 2016 | |
| Calendar and delegate rules overview • Types of delegates • State election law and delegates • Superdelegates by state | |
Rawlings-Blake was a superdelegate to the 2016 Democratic National Convention from Maryland.[6] Rawlings-Blake was one of 23 superdelegates from Maryland. Superdelegates to the 2016 Democratic National Convention were not bound by the results of their state’s primary or caucus results to support a specific presidential candidate. Ballotpedia was not able to identify whether Rawlings-Blake supported Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders for the 2016 Democratic nomination.[7]
What is a superdelegate?
Superdelegates in 2016 were automatic delegates to the Democratic National Convention, meaning that, unlike regular delegates, they were not elected to this position. Also unlike regular delegates, they were not required to pledge their support to any presidential candidate, and they were not bound by the results of their state's presidential primary election or caucus. In 2016, superdelegates included members of the Democratic National Committee, Democratic members of Congress, Democratic governors, and distinguished party leaders, including former presidents and vice presidents. All superdelegates were free to support any presidential candidate of their choosing at the 2016 Democratic National Convention.[8]
Maryland primary results
- See also: Presidential election in Maryland, 2016
Hillary Clinton won Maryland's Democratic primary, defeating Bernie Sanders by nearly 30 percent.[9] In a CNN exit poll, Clinton swept voters over age 30 while Sanders swept voters age 18 to 29. The same exit poll showed that Clinton had the support of 73 percent of black respondents and 54 percent of white respondents. Clinton also won the support of voters at all income and education levels, according to exit polls.[10]
| Maryland Democratic Primary, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | Delegates | |
|
Hillary Clinton |
62.5% | 573,242 | 60 | |
| Bernie Sanders | 33.8% | 309,990 | 35 | |
| Roque De La Fuente | 0.4% | 3,582 | 0 | |
| Other | 3.3% | 29,949 | 0 | |
| Totals | 916,763 | 95 | ||
| Source: The New York Times and Maryland Secretary of State | ||||
Delegate allocation
Maryland had 120 delegates at the 2016 Democratic National Convention. Of this total, 96 were pledged delegates. National party rules stipulated how Democratic delegates in all states were allocated. Pledged delegates were allocated to a candidate in proportion to the votes he or she received in a state's primary or caucus. A candidate was eligible to receive a share of the state's pledged delegates if he or she won at least 15 percent of the votes cast in the primary or caucus. There were three types of pledged Democratic delegates: congressional district delegates, at-large delegates, and party leaders and elected officials (PLEOs). Congressional district delegates were allocated proportionally based on the primary or caucus results in a given district. At-large and PLEO delegates were allocated proportionally based on statewide primary results.[11][12]
Twenty-four party leaders and elected officials served as unpledged delegates. These delegates were not required to adhere to the results of a state's primary or caucus.[11][13]
Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Rawlings-Blake is married to Kent Blake. They have a daughter named Sophia.[4]
Issues in the city
Freddie Gray
On April 19, 2015, a Black resident of Baltimore, Maryland, named Freddie Gray died from a severe spinal injury, which he sustained during the course of an arrest that took place on April 12, 2015, in a west Baltimore neighborhood. The Baltimore Sun compiled a detailed timeline and summary of the incident. It can be accessed here.
In the aftermath of Gray's death, protests began in Baltimore. On April 27, 2015, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) declared a state of emergency and deployed the National Guard. At the same time, Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake established a citywide curfew from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.[14] On April 28, Hogan pledged to send at least 1,000 additional National Guard troops to maintain peace in the midst of protests. In response to criticisms of the state's delayed response, Hogan suggested that an emergency order had been ready on April 25, but the governor's office waited for a response from Rawlings-Blake before mobilizing state resources.[15]
Judge Barry G. Williams was chosen to preside over the trial of the six police officers indicted in the case. The defendants were Officer Caesar R. Goodson Jr., charged with second-degree depraved-heart murder, Sgt. Alicia D. White, Lt. Brian W. Rice, and Officer William G. Porter, each charged with manslaughter, and Officers Edward M. Nero and Garrett E. Miller, charged with second-degree assault. On June 22, 2015, all officers pleaded not guilty.
Nero, Goodson, and Rice were acquitted by Williams following bench trials in May 2016, June 2016, and July 2016, respectively. Prosecutors dropped the charges against Miller, Porter, and White on July 27, 2016.[16][17][18][19] Rawlings-Blake has been sharply critical of the rioters in Baltimore, calling them "thugs who always want to incite violence and destroy our city." She went on to say: "Too many people have spent generations building up this city for it to be destroyed by thugs who, in a very senseless way, are trying to tear down what so many have fought for. Tearing down businesses, tearing down and destroying property — things that we know will impact our community for years."[14]
Her administration, however, has received some criticism for its handling of the riots. During the weekend of April 25 and 26—when the riots began—Rawlings-Blake described her approach to the situation as follows:[20]
| “ | It’s a very delicate balancing act, because while we tried to make sure that they were protected from the cars and the other things that were going on, we also gave those who wished to destroy space to do that as well.[21] | ” |
Some interpreted this statement to mean that she had purposefully allowed for violence and the destruction of property. A spokesperson for Rawlings-Blake later pushed back against this interpretation, saying, "Unfortunately, as a result of providing the peaceful demonstrators with the space to share their message, that also meant that those seeking to incite violence also had the space to operate. The police sought to balance the rights of the peaceful demonstrators against the need to step in against those who were seeking to create violence. The mayor is not saying that she asked police to give space to people who sought to create violence. Any suggestion otherwise would be a misinterpretation of her statement."[20]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for "Stephanie + Rawlings-Blake + Baltimore"
- All stories may not be relevant due to the nature of the search engine.
See also
External links
- Office of the Mayor website
- Campaign website
- Social Media
Footnotes
- ↑ Baltimore Sun, "Dixon resigns," January 7, 2010
- ↑ Baltimore City Charter, Article IV, Sec. 2, accessed September 16, 2014
- ↑ Baltimore Sun, "Next Baltimore election delayed for 1 year," April 2, 2012
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 City of Baltimore, "About the Mayor," accessed September 6, 2014
- ↑ WBAL, "Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake Elected Vice President of 82nd U.S. Conference of Mayors," June 23, 2014
- ↑ Ballotpedia's list of superdelegates to the 2016 Democratic National Convention is based on our own research and lists provided by the Democratic National Committee to Vox.com in February 2016 and May 2016. If you think we made an error in identifying superdelegates, please send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org.
- ↑ To find out which candidate a superdelegate supported, Ballotpedia sought out public statements from the superdelegate in other media outlets and on social media. If we were unable to find a public statement that clearly articulated which candidate the superdelegate supported at the national convention, we listed that superdelegate as "unknown." If you believe we made an error in identifying which candidate a superdelegate supported, please email us at editor@ballotpedia.org.
- ↑ Congressional Research Service, "The Presidential Nominating Process and the National Party Conventions, 2016: Frequently Asked Questions," December 30, 2015
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedNYT - ↑ CNN, "Maryland Exit Polls," April 26, 2016
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Democratic National Committee, "2016 Democratic National Convention Delegate/Alternate Allocation," updated February 19, 2016
- ↑ The Green Papers, "2016 Democratic Convention," accessed May 7, 2021
- ↑ Democratic National Committee's Office of Party Affairs and Delegate Selection, "Unpledged Delegates -- By State," May 27, 2016
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 The Washington Post, "Rioting rocks Baltimore: Hogan declares emergency, activates Guard," April 28, 2015
- ↑ The Baltimore Sun, "Gov. Larry Hogan promises more than 1,000 additional troops, vows to prevent rioting," April 28, 2015
- ↑ The Baltimore Sun, "Freddie Gray case: Baltimore Police Officer Edward Nero found not guilty of all charges," May 23, 2016
- ↑ The Baltimore Sun, "Freddie Gray Case: Officer Caesar Goodson Jr. Found Not Guilty on All Charges," June 23, 2016
- ↑ The Baltimore Sun, "Judge Acquits Lt. Brian Rice of All Charges in Freddie Gray Case," July 18, 2016
- ↑ The Baltimore Sun, "Charges Dropped, Freddie Gray Case Concludes with Zero Convictions against Officers," July 27, 2016
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 Baltimore Sun, "Mayor: City didn't purposely allow crimes Saturday during protest," April 27, 2015
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Sheila Dixon (D) |
Mayor of Baltimore 2010–2016 |
Succeeded by Catherine Pugh (D) |
 |
State of Maryland Annapolis (capital) |
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