Victoria Jackson-Stanley

Infobox Officeholder
name = Victoria Jackson-Stanley


imagesize = 180px
caption =
order = Mayor of Cambridge
term_start = July 21, 2008
deputy =
predecessor = Cleveland Rippons
successor = "Incumbent"
birth_date = birth date and age|1953|08|20
birth_place = USA
death_date =
death_place =
constituency =
party = Democratic
spouse = Jerome Tollifer Stanley
children = Ericca Louise Stanley
profession = social worker
religion = United Methodist


footnotes =

Victoria Jackson-Stanley (born August 20, 1953) is an American politician and the first African-American and the first woman [cite web|url=http://www.dorchesterstar.com/articles/2008/07/11/news/39955.txt|title=Jackson-Stanley defeats Rippons|last=Maddox|first=Pamela|publisher=The Star Democrat|accessdate=2008-07-11] to be elected Mayor of Cambridge, Maryland. [cite web|url=http://www.blackvoices.com/newsarticle/_a/cambridge-black-mayor/20080711090609990001|title=City Elects First Black Mayor|publisher=Associated Press|accessdate=2008-07-11]

Background

Jackson-Stanley was born in and grew up in a racially segregated Cambridge, where blacks lived in a section called Ward Two and attended segregated schools. The town had a history of racial unrest, with race riots making headlines in the 1960s. [cite web |title= Maryland History: 1960's|publisher=Maryland State Archives |url=http://www.msa.md.gov/msa/mdmanual/01glance/chron/html/chron19.html |accessdate=2008-07-11] By the 1970s, the town integrated and she was among the first black students to attend the previously all-white Cambridge High School.cite web|url=http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080711/NEWS/80711004|title=Md. city with edgy racial past elects black mayor|last=Wyatt|first=Kristen|date=2008-07-11|publisher=DelawareOnline/AP|accessdate=2008-07-11]
Jackson-Stanley is currently the deputy director of the Dorchester County Department of Social Services.cite web|url=http://wap.baltimoresun.mlogic3g.com/news.jsp?key=195276&rc=local|title=Cambridge makes history|last=Guy|first=Chris|date=2008-07-10|publisher=Baltimore Sun|accessdate=2008-07-11] She and her husband, Jerome, live in Cambridge; they have a daugther and a grandson.

Election

On June 10, 2008, in a non-partisan primary election Jackson-Stanley and incumbent Mayor Cleveland Rippons won the right to face each other in the July general election. Rippons received 696 votes, Jackson-Stanley 674 votes and Octavene Saunders finished third with 128 votes. [cite web|url=http://www.examiner.com/a-1435403~Rippons__Jackson_Stanley__survive_Cambridge_primary.html|title=Rippons, Jackson-Stanley, survive Cambridge primary|date=2008-06-11|publisher=Baltimore Examiner|accessdate=2008-07-12] Under Cambridge local election laws, only the top two vote-getters qualify for a run-off general election. During the general election campaign, Jackson-Stanley went door-to-door in the City of Cambridge touting her leadership skills and vowed to hire competent professionals to head vital city departments. Rippons, an eight year incumbent, was criticized during the campaign for his support of the expansion of development in and around Cambridge. On July 8, 2008 voters chose Jackson-Stanley over Rippons by a 1,383 to 1,231 margin. [cite web|url=http://www.examiner.com/a-1480297~Jackson_Stanley_elected_Cambridge_mayor.html|title=Jackson-Stanley elected Cambridge mayor|date=2008-07-09|publisher=Baltimore Examiner|accessdate=2008-07-12] Although Cambridge is composed equally of black and white residents, neither candidate felt that the other brought up race as an issue. Residents agreed that economic growth and other concerns were more important than gender or race. [cite web|url=http://www.wmdt.com/topstory/topstory.asp?id=3609|title=History In The Making |last=Watson|first=Amber|date=2008-07-10|publisher= Delmarva 47 News|accessdate=2008-07-12] . Jackson-Stanley was sworn in on July 21, 2008. [cite web|url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALua7U8ukQc|title=Victoria Jackson-Stanley: Cambridge Mayor Acceptance Speech]

References