Parris Glendening

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.[7]

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.

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,[8] 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.[9]

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% to 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.[20] 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.[21] Ehrlich was victorious in November 2002, taking office in the Maryland State House in Annapolis in January 2003.

Glendening in 2017

Glendening with Governor Wes Moore in 2023

Glendening left office on January 15, 2003, with low approval ratings,[22] 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.

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.[23]

Glendening did not attend the inauguration of governor Martin O'Malley on January 17, 2007.[24]

On November 19, 2001, Glendening divorced Frances Hughes Glendening. He married one of his deputy chiefs of staff, Jennifer Crawford, his third wife, on January 25, 2002. At the time of their marriage, Crawford was 35 and Glendening was 59.[4] They have a daughter, born in August 2002, marking the first time since 1879 that a Maryland governor had a baby born during his term of office.[25][26]

Glendening's brother, Bruce, died of AIDS in 1992.[27]

Glendening regards University Park, Maryland, as his hometown, near the University of Maryland at College Park campus.[28]

• Maryland State Archives. Parris N. Glendening. Retrieved June 17, 2004.
• Appearances on C-SPAN