Stephanie Rawlings Blake

Infobox Officeholder
name = Stephanie Rawlings-Blake


caption =
order = 49^th President Baltimore City Council
term_start = January 17, 2007
term_end = Present
deputy =
predecessor = Sheila Dixon
successor = Incumbent
birth_date = birth date and age|1970|3|17
birth_place = Baltimore, Maryland
death_date =
death_place =
constituency =
party = Democratic
spouse = Kent V. Blake
children = one daughter
profession = Attorney
majority =
relations = Howard "Pete" Rawlings, former (D), Maryland State Delegate, District 40


footnotes =
order2 = Baltimore City Council Member
term_start2 = 1995
term_end2 = 2007
president =
predecessor2 =
successor2 =
order3 =
term_start3 =
term_end3 =
predecessor3 =
successor3 =

Stephanie Rawlings Blake is an American politician and the President of the Baltimore City Council.

Background

Rawlings-Blake was born in Baltimore, Maryland on March 17, 1970 and is the daughter of the Nina and Howard "Pete" Rawlings. [ [http://www.citypaper.com/news/story.asp?id=3329 Feature: City Paper's Guide to the Primary Race, 2003 | 7/23/2003 | Citypaper.com ] ] . Her father was a member of the Maryland House of Delegates.

Education

Stephanie Rawlings-Blake graduated from Western High School (Baltimore, Maryland) in 1988. She graduated from Oberlin College in Ohio in 1992 with a B.A. in Political Science. She earned her Juris Doctor from the University of Maryland Law School in 1995. She was admitted to the Maryland Bar in 1996 and to the Federal Bar in 1997. [ [http://www.msa.md.gov/msa/mdmanual/36loc/bcity/leg/html/msa14500.html Stephanie Rawlings Blake, City Council, Baltimore, Maryland ] ] She is also an alumnus of the Baltimore Chesapeake Bay Outward Bound Center.

Career

In 1995, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake became the youngest person ever elected to the Baltimore City Council. She became President of the Council on January 17, 2007 when then City Council President Sheila Dixon became mayor.

Rawlings-Blake is active in many organizations and committees. In 1993, she served as the Annapolis lobbyist for the Young Democrats of Maryland. She currently serves on the board of directors for Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association, the Greater Northwest Community Coalition, the Living Classrooms Foundation, the Maryland Science Center, the National Aquarium in Baltimore, Park Heights Health Association, and the Parks and People Foundation.

She is also a member of Judiciary and Legislative Investigations Committee and is chair of the Budget and Appropriations Committee.

2007 elections

On June 14th, 2007, Rawlings-Blake announced that she would seek a full, four-year term as council president. Her platform included improving education and reducing crime in the city.

In a poll of likely Democratic voters released by the Baltimore Sun on July 17, 2007, Rawlings-Blake was in a virtual tie with Michael Sarbanes, son of former Senator Paul Sarbanes. The poll had Sarbanes getting 27% of the respondents and Rawlings-Blake 26% with Councilman Kenneth N. Harris, Sr. a distant third with 8%. The poll's margin of error was (+ or -)4%. [http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/baltimore_city/bal-te.md.ci.president17jul17,0,4457877.story?coll=bal-home-headlines] She won the Primary with 49% of the vote compared to 38 percent for Michael Sarbanes. [http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/files/elections/2007/by_state/MD_Page_0911.html?SITE=MDBAEELN&SECTION=POLITICS] In heavily Democratic Baltimore, winning the Democratic nomination usually assures success in the general election, and indeed Rawlings Blake defeated her only opponent, Green candidate Maria Allwine, with 82 percent of the vote [ [http://www.baltimorecity.gov/government/elections/results/ City of Baltimore, Maryland ] ] .

References and notes