Victoria Jackson-Stanley

Victoria Jackson-Stanley (born August 20, 1953) is an American politician and the first African-American and the first woman^[1] to be elected Mayor of Cambridge, Maryland.^[2]

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.^[3] By the 1970s, the town integrated and she was among the first black students to attend the previously all-white Cambridge High School.^[4]
Jackson-Stanley is currently the deputy director of the Dorchester County Department of Social Services.^[5] She and her husband, Jerome, live in Cambridge; they have a daughter 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.^[6] 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.^[5] On July 8, 2008 voters chose Jackson-Stanley over Rippons by a 1,383 to 1,231 margin.^[7] Although Cambridge is composed equally of black and white residents, neither candidate felt that the other brought up race as an issue.^[4] Residents agreed that economic growth and other concerns were more important than gender or race.^[8] Jackson-Stanley was sworn in on July 21, 2008.^[9] She won a second term in July 2012.^[10]

References