Richard Madaleno
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Richard S. Madaleno, Jr. (born June 16, 1965), commonly known as Rich Madaleno, is an American politician from Maryland. A Democrat, he is a member of the Maryland State Senate, representing the state's 18th district in Montgomery County. He previously served four years in the House of Delegates.
Growing up in Silver Spring, Madaleno was educated at Montgomery County public schools and Georgetown Preparatory School. He then went to Syracuse University where he earned a B.A. in 1987 and an M.A. in public administration in 1989.
On leaving university, Madaleno began his career in Maryland government, working first for the Maryland Department of Fiscal Services and then Montgomery County's Office of Intergovernmental Relations. He served in that capacity until his election to the House of Delegates in 2002.
In 2002, he won one of three seats representing Maryland's 18th District in the House of Delegates. He placed second in the Democratic primary election in September 2002 and, along with his two fellow Democratic nominees, faced no Republican opponents in the general election.
In April 2006, incumbent District 18 senator Sharon Grosfeld announced that she would not be running for re-election. Madaleno decided to seek the Senate seat and quickly established himself as the leading candidate. Indeed, he attracted no primary opponents whatsoever and faced only nominal Republican opposition in November. His was the only open Senate seat in the whole of Maryland that did not see a primary contest. In the general election, he defeated his Republican opponent by more than three-to-one.
He is openly gay and is the first openly gay Maryland state senator. Along with Delegates Maggie McIntosh, Anne Kaiser and Heather Mizeur, he forms part of the four-strong LGBT grouping in the Maryland General Assembly. His election campaigns have won the support of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund.
