Kent A. Roberson is an American politician who is currently a member of the Maryland House of Delegates from District 25.[1]

Kent Roberson
Roberson in 2024
Member of the Maryland House of Delegates
from the 25th district
Assumed office
May 30, 2023
Serving with Karen Toles and Denise Roberts
Appointed byWes Moore
Preceded byDarryl Barnes
Personal details
BornMemphis, Tennessee, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Children3
Alma materBall State University (BA, MA)
Wesley Theological Seminary (MDiv)
WebsiteCampaign website

Background

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Roberson was born in Memphis, Tennessee. He graduated from Frederick Douglass High School and later attended Ball State University, earning a bachelor's and master's degree in political science in 2002 and 2007, and the Wesley Theological Seminary, where he earned a Master of Divinity degree in 2003.[1]

Roberson first got involved in politics during high school in 2002, working as a student page for the Maryland House of Delegates. In 2013, he started work in the Maryland General Assembly mailroom.[2] After graduating, Roberson worked as an intern for U.S. Representative Albert Wynn, later serving as a senior government relations manager for the Corn Refiners Association[3] and the vice president of the Prince George's County Parent Teacher Student Association. In 2021, Roberson was appointed as the African-American Diversity Leadership chair for the state of Maryland.[4]

In 2018, Roberson was elected to the Prince George's County Democratic Central Committee for District 25. He was re-elected to a second term after running unopposed in 2022, subsequently becoming the committee's chair.[5]

Also in 2018, Roberson unsuccessfully ran for the Maryland House of Delegates in District 25, placing fifth with 6.4 percent of the vote.[6] In 2022, Roberson unsuccessfully ran for the Prince George's County Board of Education, losing to small business owner Lolita Walker.[4]

 
Roberson as a member of the electoral college, 2020

During the 2020 presidential primaries, Roberson unsuccessfully ran for national delegate to the Democratic National Convention, pledged to Elizabeth Warren.[7] He later served as an elector for Maryland's 5th congressional district in the 2020 United States presidential election.[8]

In the legislature

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In April 2023, Roberson applied to fill a vacancy left by the resignation of state delegate Darryl Barnes.[5] He was unanimously nominated by fellow members of the Prince George's County Democratic Central Committee on May 5, 2023.[9] Roberson was sworn into office on May 30, 2023.[2]

Personal life

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Kent is married to his wife, Jamii.[2] Together, they have three children.[5][3]

Electoral history

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Prince George's County Democratic Central Committee District 23 election, 2014[10]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Cheryl S. Landis (incumbent) 56,024 78.3
Democratic Kent A. Roberson 15,571 21.7
Maryland House of Delegates District 25 Democratic primary election, 2018[6]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Darryl Barnes (incumbent) 13,050 26.5
Democratic Dereck E. Davis (incumbent) 12,152 24.7
Democratic Nick Charles 8,330 16.9
Democratic Wala Blegay 6,217 12.6
Democratic Kent Roberson 3,126 6.4
Democratic Sherman R. Hardy 2,200 4.5
Democratic Stanley Onye 2,070 4.2
Democratic Maurice Culbreath 2,041 4.1
Prince George's County Democratic Central Committee District 25 election, 2018[11]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Kent Roberson 53,541 51.6
Democratic Sherma Jack Brisseau 50,272 48.4
Prince George's County Democratic Central Committee District 25 election, 2022[12]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Kent Roberson (incumbent) 100,319 100.0
Prince George's County Board of Education District 9 election, 2022[13]
Candidate Votes %
Lolita Walker 17,861 56.8
Kent Roberson 13,390 42.6
Write-in 213 0.7

References

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  1. ^ a b "Kent Roberson, Maryland State Delegate". Maryland Manual On-Line. Maryland State Archives. June 21, 2023. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c Ford, William J.; Kurtz, Josh; Sears, Bryan P. (May 30, 2023). "Notes: A new delegate, a gig for wife of Moore's chief of staff, AG sues chemical polluters, and more". Maryland Matters. Retrieved May 30, 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Kent Roberson, Senior Manager, Government Relations". Corn.org. Corn Refiners Association. Archived from the original on April 24, 2023. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  4. ^ a b Gauer, Akshaj (November 7, 2022). "Meet the PGCPS school board candidates in southern Prince George's County". The Diamondback. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  5. ^ a b c Beachum, Lateshia (April 24, 2023). "Successor to outgoing Maryland Del. Darryl Barnes to be named this week". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  6. ^ a b "Official 2018 Gubernatorial Primary Election results for House of Delegates". elections.maryland.gov. Maryland State Board of Elections. July 31, 2018.
  7. ^ "Official 2020 Presidential Primary Election results for Male Delegates to the Democratic National Convention". elections.maryland.gov. Maryland State Board of Elections. July 2, 2020. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  8. ^ Leckrone, Bennett (October 14, 2020). "Here Are Maryland's Potential Electors For 2020". Maryland Matters. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  9. ^ Gaines, Danielle E.; Kurtz, Josh; Sears, Bryan P. (May 5, 2023). "Roundup: Prince George's Dems pick chair for House vacancy, attitudes on sports betting, and new enviro leaders". Maryland Matters. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
  10. ^ "Official 2014 Gubernatorial Primary Election results for Prince George's County". elections.maryland.gov. Maryland State Board of Elections. July 16, 2014.
  11. ^ "Official 2018 Gubernatorial Primary Election results for Prince George's County". elections.maryland.gov. Maryland State Board of Elections. July 31, 2018.
  12. ^ "Official 2022 Gubernatorial Primary Election results for Prince George's County". elections.maryland.gov. Maryland State Board of Elections. August 24, 2022.
  13. ^ "Official 2022 Gubernatorial General Election results for Prince George's County". elections.maryland.gov. Maryland State Board of Elections. December 7, 2022.