Parris Glendening

{{Infobox officeholder

|name = Parris Glendening

|image = Parris Glendening at 2023 Preakness Stakes (cropped).jpg

|order = 59th Governor of Maryland

|lieutenant = Kathleen Kennedy Townsend

|term_start = January 18, 1995

|term_end = January 15, 2003

|predecessor = William Donald Schaefer

|successor = Bob Ehrlich

|office1 = Chair of the National Governors Association

|term_start1 = July 11, 2000

|term_end1 = August 7, 2001

|predecessor1 = Mike Leavitt

|successor1 = John Engler

|office2 = 4th Executive of Prince George's County

|term_start2 = 1983

|term_end2 = 1994

|predecessor2 = Lawrence Hogan

|successor2 = Wayne K. Curry

|birth_name = Parris Nelson Glendening

|birth_date = {{birth date and age|1942|6|11}}

|birth_place = New York City, U.S.

|death_date =

|death_place =

|party = Democratic

|spouse = Lynne Shaw (divorced 1970s){{cite web |url=http://www.nga.org/portal/site/nga/menuitem.29fab9fb4add37305ddcbeeb501010a0/?vgnextoid=a076ae3effb81010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD |title=Maryland Governor Parris N. Glendening |publisher=National Governors Association |access-date=March 18, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100104092710/http://www.nga.org/portal/site/nga/menuitem.29fab9fb4add37305ddcbeeb501010a0/?vgnextoid=a076ae3effb81010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD |archive-date=January 4, 2010}}{{cite web |url=http://www.msa.md.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc3500/sc3520/011500/011536/html/11536bio.html |title=Parris N. Glendening |publisher=Maryland State Archives |access-date=March 18, 2011}}
{{marriage|Frances Hughes|1976|2001|reason=div.}}{{cite news |url=http://washington.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2001/11/19/daily11.html |title=Md. Governor, first lady divorce |access-date=August 1, 2008 |last=Sunnucks |first=Mike |date=November 19, 2001 |work=Washington Business Journal |publisher=American City Business Journals }}
{{marriage|Jennifer Crawford|2002}}{{cite web |url=https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc3500/sc3520/013700/013778/html/sun1-28-2002.html |title=Governor weds longtime aide |first=David |last=Nitkin |date=January 29, 2002 |publisher=originally The Baltimore Sun, found on Maryland State Archives |access-date=March 18, 2011}}

|education = Broward College
Florida State University (BA, MA, PhD)

|signature = Parris Glendening signature.svg

| module = {{Listen|pos=center|embed=yes|filename=Parris Glendening welcomes President Bill Clinton to the Maryland General Assembly.ogg|title=Glendening's voice|type=speech|description=Glendening welcomes President Bill Clinton to the Maryland General Assembly.
Recorded February 10, 1997}}

}}

Parris Nelson Glendening (born June 11, 1942) is an American politician and academic who served as the 59th governor of Maryland from 1995 to 2003. He previously served as the county executive of Prince George's County, Maryland from 1982 to 1994 as a member of the Democratic Party.{{cite web |url=https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/speccol/sc3500/sc3520/011500/011536/html/msa11536.html |title=Parris N. Glendening Biographical Series; Governor of Maryland, 1995–2003|date= January 10, 2003|website= Archives of Maryland, MSA SC 3520-11536|publisher= Maryland State Government|access-date= September 11, 2018}} In 1999, Glendening was elected as a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration.{{Cite web |last=Incorporated |first=Prime |title=National Academy of Public Administration |url=https://napawash.org/fellow/13779 |access-date=2023-02-13 |website=National Academy of Public Administration |language=en}}

Early life, education, and academic career

Glendening was born in The Bronx, New York City, but later in his youth moved to the state of Florida. Raised Catholic, he attended St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale. He won a financial scholarship to Broward Community College.

Other financial aid later enabled him to attend the Florida State University, where he received a bachelor's degree (1964), a master's degree (1965), and a PhD (1967), becoming the youngest student in FSU history to receive a doctorate in political science.{{cite web |url=http://www.fsu.edu/~fstime/FS-Times/Volume4/feb99web/7feb99.html |title=FSU Launched an Education Governor |access-date=August 7, 2007 |last=Peck |first=Dana |date=February–March 1999 |work=Florida State Times |quote=In 1967, at the age of 25, Glendening became the youngest student to receive a Ph.D. in political science at FSU. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070610001649/http://www.fsu.edu/~fstime/FS-Times/Volume4/feb99web/7feb99.html |archive-date=June 10, 2007}}

When he graduated, he taught government and politics as a professor at the University of Maryland at College Park for 27 years. In 1977, he co-authored Pragmatic Federalism: An Intergovernmental View of American Government with Mavis Mann Reeves.{{citation needed|date=March 2023}}

Local politics

Glendening's career in public service began in 1973 as a city councilman in the Washington, D.C. suburb of Hyattsville, Maryland. He was elected to the county council of Prince George's County, Maryland, in 1974 and twice served as the council chairman. In 1982, he was elected as the county executive of Prince George's county, eventually becoming the first county executive in Maryland history to be elected to three terms (1982–94). Under Glendening's leadership, Prince George's county was selected as an "All America County" by the National Civic League,{{cite web|url=http://www.ncl.org/aac/past_winners/past_winners_state.html |title=All-America City: Past Winners |access-date=August 6, 2007 |quote="Prince George's County, 1986–87" |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070403131355/http://www.ncl.org/aac/past_winners/past_winners_state.html |archive-date=April 3, 2007 |url-status=dead}} and City and State Magazine named him the "most valuable county official" in the nation. He and his top aides stood to benefit from a controversial Prince George's county supplemental retirement plan that was not widely disclosed by the press until after he was elected governor in an extremely close contest.{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1995/01/31/glendening-forgoes-early-pg-pension/c2ccbcae-bfe1-47a3-bb5e-af4dc5810425/ |title=Glendening Forgoes early P.G. Pension |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=January 31, 1995 |access-date=April 25, 2016}}

Governor of Maryland

=Elections=

Glendening was elected to his first term as governor of Maryland, edging out Ellen Sauerbrey, the Republican nominee, by 5,993 votes. Sauerbrey challenged the result in Maryland circuit court claiming that widespread voting by dead people occurred in the African American community. No evidence of ballots cast in the names of dead voters was introduced in court. On the eve of the trial, Sauerbrey's attorneys talked of 89 such votes, but checking by reporters found no such ballots.{{cite news |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/1995/01/16/sauerbrey-abandons-election-appeal/ |title=Sauerbrey abandons election appeal |newspaper=Baltimore Sun |date=January 16, 1995 |access-date=November 19, 2012}} Judge Raymond G. Thieme Jr. ruled against Sauerbrey's claim and certified Glendening's win.{{cite news |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/1995/03/15/us-pursuing-new-claims-of-city-vote-fraud-november-election-back-in-spotlight-amid-allegations/ |title=U.S. pursuing new claims of city vote fraud; November election back in spotlight amid allegations |newspaper=The Baltimore Sun |date=March 15, 1995 |access-date=December 4, 2015 |first1=Marcia |last1=Myers |first2=William F. Jr. |last2=Zorzi |quote=Judge Thieme called for an investigation into some of the problems highlighted during Mrs. Sauerbrey's challenge, ... but ... rejected her legal claims, and she chose not to appeal. }} Glendening became the first Maryland governor elected from the Washington, D.C., metropolitan region since Oden Bowie was elected in 1867.{{citation needed|date=August 2012}} In 1998, Glendening won re-election to a second term, again defeating Sauerbrey, this time 55% to 45%.{{citation needed|date=March 2023}}

=Tenure=

File:President Bill Clinton with Parris Glendening.jpg at Oriole Park in April 1996]]

Glendening's early administration was marked by higher education investment, environmental protection, tax reform and economic development.{{cite web |url=https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/08conoff/former/html/msa11536.html |title=Parris N. Glendening |website=Maryland State Archives |date=May 22, 2024 |access-date=August 18, 2024}} From 1994 to 1998, he cut or lowered more than 50 Maryland taxes, including the state personal income tax. By the end of his first term, Maryland's national rank in job creation had moved from 43rd to 14th. Glendening's job creation efforts focused mainly on biotechnology. Seeking to make Maryland a world leader in this area, Glendening successfully recruited companies such as Human Genome Sciences, Gallow Lab, and Qiagen to Maryland. As of June 2014, Maryland was home to the second-largest biotech cluster per capita in the U.S.{{cite news |url=http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/blog/2011/06/md-va-biotech-industries-take-center.html?page=all |title=Maryland, Virginia biotech industries take center stage in D.C. |newspaper=Washington Business Journal |date=June 28, 2011 |access-date=June 3, 2014}}

Glendening also assisted in successfully bringing the National Football League teams Washington Redskins from Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in the neighboring District of Columbia (Washington, D.C.) who now play in a new stadium in Landover, with then owner Jack Kent Cooke, and the relocated franchise Baltimore Ravens, from Cleveland, Ohio, as the former Cleveland Browns with owner Art Modell to play in Baltimore after two years in a new stadium as part of the sports complex at Camden Yards, west of the redeveloped Inner Harbor.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/sports/longterm/memories/1995/95nfl4.htm |title=Modell Announces Browns' Move to Baltimore |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=November 7, 1995 |access-date=November 19, 2012}} Glendening personally negotiated the relocation agreements with both owners and then undertook a politically heated battle against members of his own party – led by state senator Chris Van Hollen (future representative and senator){{cite news |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/1996/02/08/outsiders-relish-football-tussle-underdogs-state-legislators-outside-the-power-loop-are-fighting-plans-to-fund-football-stadiums-and-are-enjoying-the-attention/ |title=Outsiders relish football tussle Underdogs: State legislators outside the power loop are fighting plans to fund football stadiums, and are enjoying the attention |newspaper=Baltimore Sun |date=February 8, 1996 |access-date=November 19, 2012}} – to build the teams' new stadiums and pay for the needed road improvements and public works infrastructure.

During Glendening's second term, serious ongoing environmental issues concerning the Chesapeake Bay and the overdevelopment of rural areas increased his focus on issues of growth and environmental stewardship. Glendening is widely recognized as a pioneer in land development issues {{cite web |url=http://ww2.somdnews.com/stories/04152011/indytop173335_32421.shtml |title=Smart growth 'pioneer' Glendening touts transit |publisher=Ww2.somdnews.com |date=April 15, 2011 |access-date=November 19, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130203021151/http://ww2.somdnews.com/stories/04152011/indytop173335_32421.shtml |archive-date=February 3, 2013}} and is credited{{cite web|last=O'Keefe |first=Karen |url=http://www.tndtownpaper.com/Volume6/parris_glendening.htm |title=The Town Paper: Smart Growth's Parris Glendeninglaves |publisher=Tndtownpaper.com |access-date=November 19, 2012}} for coining the phrase "Smart Growth."

In 2001, Maryland legislators passed a bill that Glendening had promoted for the previous two years banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Glendening signed the bill.{{cite news |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/baltsun/access/73025825.html?dids=73025825:73025825&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=May+15%2C+2001&author=Michael+Dresser&pub=The+Sun&desc=Hixson+savors+bittersweet+victory+Gay+rights+bill+signing+product+of+long+fight+that+hit+close+to+home&pqatl=google |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120713193257/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/baltsun/access/73025825.html?dids=73025825:73025825&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=May+15,+2001&author=Michael+Dresser&pub=The+Sun&desc=Hixson+savors+bittersweet+victory+Gay+rights+bill+signing+product+of+long+fight+that+hit+close+to+home&pqatl=google |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 13, 2012 |first=Michael |last=Dresser |title=Hixson savors bittersweet victory Gay rights bill signing product of long fight that hit close to home |date=May 15, 2001}}

Though overseeing the executions of Flint Gregory Hunt in 1997 and Tyrone Delano Gilliam Jr. in 1998, Glendening halted executions in Maryland by an executive order on May 9, 2002.{{cite web |url=http://www.stateline.org/live/ViewPage.action?siteNodeId=136&languageId=1&contentId=14825 |title=Illinois Death Penalty Ban Spurs Legislators Into Action |first=Greg |last=McDonald |date=May 23, 2002 |work=Stateline.org |publisher=Pew Center on the States |location=Washington, DC |access-date=March 21, 2011}} Glendening's successor, Robert Ehrlich, lifted the ban during his term in office.{{cite web |url=http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bal-deathside1113,0,5422291.story |title=Timeline: The death penalty in Maryland |work=Baltimoresun.com |publisher=Tribune Newspaper |access-date=March 21, 2011}} The ban was re-instituted by Ehrlich's successor, former Baltimore mayor, Martin O'Malley, who eventually signed a bill in 2013 ending Maryland's use of capital punishment. During the 2002 Maryland gubernatorial election, Glendening was not eligible to run due to the state constitutional term limit. His lieutenant governor, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, was nominated by the Democrats to run. Townsend was damaged during the election due to wide criticism by rural voters, especially farmers, directed at Glendening for what they considered overzealous environmental legislation aimed at preventing rain runoff of pollutants from farm soils into tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay, that significantly raised the cost of participating in agribusiness.

Townsend lost the election, 48%–52%, to the Republican U.S. representative Robert Ehrlich of Arbutus. Ehrlich ran an inclusive campaign focusing on his bipartisan work in Congress and his pro-choice stance on abortion and moderate voting record.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/daily/aug99/ehrlich16.htm |title=Ehrlich Dogged by Gubernatorial Question |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=August 16, 1999 |access-date=November 19, 2012}} His efforts resulted in record voter turnout in Maryland's rural and suburban counties. At the same time, Townsend's campaign was plagued with missteps emblematic of which was her unpopular lieutenant governor choice, retired admiral Charles R. Larson, who had never been involved in politics and had changed parties only weeks before. Townsend's selection of Larson, which she made without consulting the Democratic leaders in the state, was a point of controversy in the campaign.{{cite news |url=http://archives.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/11/05/elec02.md.g.hotrace/index.html |title=Ehrlich wins in Maryland's governor's race |access-date=January 21, 2008 |date=November 2, 2002 |work=Inside Politics |publisher=CNN |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090122220333/http://archives.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/11/05/elec02.md.g.hotrace/index.html |archive-date=January 22, 2009}}

Ehrlich was victorious in November 2002, taking office in the Maryland State House in Annapolis in January 2003.

Post political career

File:Emerge Fundrais 0016 Gov Parris Glendening (33049560503).jpg

File:Public Swearing In (52643830332).jpg in 2023]]

Glendening left office on January 15, 2003, with low approval ratings,{{cite news|first=Michael|last=Olesker|title=Polls show the points; points show the trends|url=http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/politics/bal-md.olesker05nov07,0,3279456.column?coll=bal-mdpolitics-storyutil|newspaper=Baltimore Sun|date=November 7, 2005|access-date=August 7, 2007|quote=At his best, Glendening's approval rating was 56 percent. When he left office, it was 30 percent. Ehrlich's approval rating is 50 percent.}} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}} and he largely stayed out of the limelight. He and his successor, Robert Ehrlich, informally agreed not to criticize one another. Glendening quietly continued his advocacy work for Smart Growth.{{citation needed|date = November 2023}}

Glendening broke his three-and-a-half-year silence in late August 2006, when he endorsed Kweisi Mfume for the U.S. Senate. Mfume eventually lost the Democratic primary to Representative Ben Cardin, who went on to win the Senate seat replacing longtime incumbent Paul Sarbanes.{{cite magazine|title=Mfume snags Glendening endorsement |url=https://www.usnews.com/usnews/politics/campaign_diary/maryland/archive/2006/08/maryld.htm|magazine=U.S. News & World Report |date=August 24, 2006|access-date=August 7, 2007|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929141054/http://www.usnews.com/usnews/politics/campaign_diary/maryland/archive/2006/08/maryld.htm|archive-date=September 29, 2007}}

Glendening did not attend the inauguration of governor Martin O'Malley on January 17, 2007 because he was out of town on a pre-planned speaking engagement.{{cite news |first=Jennifer|last=Skalka|author2=Andrew A. Green|title='New day' for Md.|url=http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/politics/bal-te.md.inauguration18jan18,0,7192093.story?page=2&coll=bal-mdpolitics-utility |newspaper=Baltimore Sun|date=January 18, 2007|access-date=August 7, 2007|quote=Comptroller William Donald Schaefer, the former governor and Baltimore mayor who was voted out of office last year, did not attend; nor did former Gov. Parris N. Glendening. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930035657/http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/politics/bal-te.md.inauguration18jan18,0,7192093.story?page=2&coll=bal-mdpolitics-utility|archive-date=September 30, 2007|url-status=dead}}

Personal life

On November 19, 2001, Glendening divorced Frances Hughes Glendening after almost twenty-five years of marriage. The couple has a son, Raymond Glendening.{{cite news |url=https://archive.today/20250330041552/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2001/11/20/glendenings-divorce-after-nearly-25-years/49737841-fa41-4453-ace3-996a32f47cb2/ |title=Glendenings Divorce After Nearly 25 Years: Couple Separated Since July 2000 |date=November 19, 2001 |first1=Daniel |last1=LeDuc |first2=Ruben |last2=Castaneda}}{{Cite news |last1=LeDuc |first1=Daniel |last2=Castaneda |first2=Ruben |date=2001-11-20 |title=Glendenings Divorce After Nearly 25 Years |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2001/11/20/glendenings-divorce-after-nearly-25-years/49737841-fa41-4453-ace3-996a32f47cb2/ |access-date=2025-04-03 |work=The Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}

He married Jennifer E. Crawford, his third wife, on January 25, 2002. At the time of their marriage, Crawford was 35 and Glendening was 59. She was also his chief of staff – earning $103,000 a year – and they began their relationship while Glendening was still married. They have a daughter, Gabrielle, born in August 2002.{{cite web |url=https://archive.today/20250330040902/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2002/08/19/baby-glendening-arrives/21e5a673-67b2-44fd-83d9-dedd29cc16bf/ |title=Baby Glendening Arrives: Gabrielle Mona Delivered at 6:29 A.M, August 18, 2002 |first=Darragh |last=Johnson}} It was the first time since 1879 that a Maryland governor had a baby born during his term of office.{{Cite web |title=Jennifer Crawford Glendening, MSA SC 3520-13778 |url=https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc3500/sc3520/013700/013778/html/13778bio.html |access-date=2025-04-03 |website=Maryland State Archives}}{{cite news |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/109992671.html?dids=109992671:109992671&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Mar+02%2C+2002&author=Lori+Montgomery&pub=The+Washington+Post&desc=New+Md.+First+Lady+Expecting+Baby+in+September&pqatl=google |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111205244/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/109992671.html?dids=109992671:109992671&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Mar+02%2C+2002&author=Lori+Montgomery&pub=The+Washington+Post&desc=New+Md.+First+Lady+Expecting+Baby+in+September&pqatl=google |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 11, 2012 |title=New Md. First Lady Expecting Baby in September |first=Lori |last=Montgomery |date=March 2, 2002 |newspaper=The Washington Post |page=B02 |access-date=March 18, 2011}}{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=K8xeAAAAIBAJ&pg=5787,1117734&dq=jennifer+crawford+glendening+gabrielle&hl=en |title=Maryland governor is a new papa |date=March 19, 2002 |newspaper=Lewiston Morning Tribune |location=Lewiston, ID |page=2A |access-date=March 18, 2011}}

Glendening's brother, Bruce, died of AIDS in 1992.{{cite news |first=Daniel|last=LeDuc|title=Gov.'s Gay Rights Bid Has Family Ties |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/longterm/mdleg/glendening9.htm |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=March 9, 1999 |access-date=July 6, 2007}}

Glendening regards University Park, Maryland, as his hometown, near the University of Maryland at College Park campus.[http://www.ontheissues.org/Profile_Parris_Glendening.htm Profile of Parris Glendening] Retrieved October 31, 2014.

Electoral history

{{Election box begin no change

| title = Maryland Gubernatorial Election, 1998

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link no change

|party = Democratic Party (United States)

|candidate = Parris Glendening (incumbent)

|votes = 846,972

|percentage = 55.14

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link no change

|party = Republican Party (United States)

|candidate = Ellen Sauerbrey

|votes = 688,357

|percentage = 44.82

}}

{{Election box begin no change

| title = Maryland Gubernatorial Election, 1994

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link no change

|party = Democratic Party (United States)

|candidate = Parris Glendening

|votes = 708,094

|percentage = 50.21

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link no change

|party = Republican Party (United States)

|candidate = Ellen Sauerbrey

|votes = 702,101

|percentage = 49.78

}}

{{Election box begin no change

| title = Maryland Gubernatorial Election, 1994 – Democratic Primary

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link no change

| candidate = Parris Glendening

| party = Democratic Party (United States)

| votes = 293,314

| percentage = 53.59

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link no change

| candidate = American Joe Miedusiewski

| party = Democratic Party (United States)

| votes = 100,296

| percentage = 18.32

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link no change

| candidate = Melvin Steinberg

| party = Democratic Party (United States)

| votes = 82,308

| percentage = 15.04

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link no change

| candidate = Mary Boergers

| party = Democratic Party (United States)

| votes = 46,888

| percentage = 8.57

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link no change

| candidate = Don Allensworth

| party = Democratic Party (United States)

| votes = 15,680

| percentage = 2.87

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link no change

| candidate = Walter Gilchrist Finch

| party = Democratic Party (United States)

| votes = 5,369

| percentage = 0.98

}}

References

External links

[http://www.mdarchives.state.md.us/msa/mdmanual/08conoff/former/html/msa11536.html Maryland State Archives. ] Parris N. Glendening. Retrieved June 17, 2004.
{{C-SPAN|20417}}

{{s-ttl|title=Executive of Prince George's County|years=1983–1994}}