Jill P. Carter

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jill P. Carter
Jill P. Carter
Member Maryland House of Delegates District 41
In office
January 8, 2003 – Present
Born June 18, 1964 (1964-06-18) (age 43)
Baltimore, Maryland
Political party Democratic
Profession Attorney
Religion Episcopalian

Jill Carter is an American politician who represents the 41st district in the Maryland House of Delegates. She also ran unsuccessfully for Mayor of Baltimore in 2007.

Contents

[edit] Background

Carter is the daughter of the late Walter P. Carter, who was a civil rights activist and leader in the desegregation movement in Maryland in the 1950s and 1960s. Her mother, Zerita Joy Carter, is a retired public school educator. Carter attended Western High School in Baltimore. Carter received her B.A. in English from Loyola College in Maryland in 1988, and her J.D. from the University of Baltimore School of Law in 1992.

[edit] Career

Prior to law school, Carter was a journalist for Afro American Newspapers. She was admitted to the Maryland Bar in 1993. She has worked as a staff attorney for The Legal Aid Bureau, the Office of the Public Defender, and the Office of the City Solicitor. She is also a member of Monumental City Bar Association, and the Maryland Trial Lawyers' Association. She is a founding member of the Black Lawyers Group and founder and president of the Walter P. Carter Foundation. She was the Executive Director of the Maryland Minority Business Association in 2002, chair of the Baltimore Branch NAACP Legal Redress Committee, and was listed in Maryland's Top 100 Women in the Daily Record.

[edit] State legislator

Carter was first elected to the Maryland Legislature in November of 2002, after defeating four incumbents in the Democratic primary that September. She is currently a member of the House Judiciary Committee and chair of the Estates and Trusts Subcommittee[1], the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland, and the Women Legislators of Maryland. Carter voted against legalizing slot machines in Maryland in 2005[2]. Prior to her re-election in 2006, she became a vocal critic of then mayor's, now Governor Martin O'Malley, a fellow Democrat, "failed policing policies." She posited that the so-labeled, zero tolerance, arrest strategy failed to cause significant reduction in a soaring crime rate in Baltimore City. But, instead, pressured police officers to make tens of thousands of arrests that did not produce criminal charges. She has oft been referred to as a lone voice in the wilderness for her challenges to established politicians to end the lead poisoning of children, to adequately fund public education, and most recently, calling for a special session of the legislature to deal with the BGE utility rate increase[3].

[edit] Legislative notes

  • Voted against slots in 2005 (HB1361)[4]
  • Voted for the Healthy Air Act in 2006 (SB154)[5]
  • voted for the Clean Indoor Air Act of 2007 (HB359)[6]
  • voted in favor of prohibiting ground rents in 2007(SB106)[1]
  • voted in favor of the Tax Reform Act of 2007(HB2)[2]
  • voted against increasing the sales and services taxes by 20% - Transportation and Sales Investment Act of 2007(HB5)[3]

[edit] Election Results

  • 2006 Democratic Primary for Maryland House of Delegates – District 41[7]
Voters to choose three:
Name Votes Percent Outcome
Jill P. Carter, Dem. 13,196   31.2%    Won
Samuel I. Rosenberg, Dem. 9,215   21.8%    Won
Nathaniel T. Oaks, Dem. 9,189   21.7%    Won
Wendall Phillips 6,480   15.3%    Lost
Kevin Hargrave 2,095   5.0%    Lost
Karen M. Ferguson 2,116   5.0%    Lost

[edit] Baltimore mayoral race

Carter declared her candidacy for the Democratic nomination in the 2007 Baltimore mayoral election[8]. She had criticized the current city administration for unjust enrichment of billionnaire developers and business interests at the expense of the poor and middle class, what she has called "overzealous policing", and has vowed to replace the police department's leadership if elected[9]. In a poll of likely democratic voters released by the Baltimore Sun on July 16, 2007, Carter trailed Mayor Dixon (47%), Councilman Mitchell (15%) and Andrey Bundley (4%) with 2% of those polled. [10] Despite her campaign antics, such as camping out all night on some of the city's most violent street corners, serving hot dogs, one-on-one conversations with residents, and distributing voter registration forms, Carter's campaign failed to raise enough money to become viable, and Carter eventually finished fourth in the race with 2.8% of the vote.

[edit] Primary election results

  • 2007 Democratic Primary for Mayor of Baltimore[11].
Candidate Votes  %
Sheila Dixon 54,381 63.1%
Keiffer J. Mitchell, Jr. 20,376 23.7%
Andrey Bundley 6,543 7.6%
Jill P. Carter 2,372 2.8%
A. Robert Kaufman 885 1.0%
Mike Schaefer 762 0.9%
Frank Conaway 533 0.6%
Phillip Brown 273 0.3%

[edit] References and notes

  1. ^ Jill P. Carter, Maryland State Delegate
  2. ^ Vote Record 0152
  3. ^ 2007 city candidates set - baltimoresun.com
  4. ^ http://mlis.state.md.us/2005rs/votes/house/0152.htm Official roll call House Bill 1361
  5. ^ http://mlis.state.md.us/2006rs/votes/house/0942.htm Official roll call Senate Bill 154
  6. ^ http://mlis.state.md.us/2007rs/billfile/HB0359.htm Official roll call House Bill 359
  7. ^ House of Delegates Results. Maryland State Board of Elections. Retrieved on 2008-03-31.
  8. ^ http://www.abc2news.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=8ff3cfdd-ef68-4971-9787-d6062bda00b9
  9. ^ 2007 city candidates set - baltimoresun.com
  10. ^ Dixon dominates field. the Baltimore Sun. Retrieved on 2007-09-01.
  11. ^ City of Baltimore - Board of Elections

[edit] External links