Veronica L. Turner

Veronica L. Turner (born February 7, 1950) is an American politician who represents District 26 in the Maryland House of Delegates.[1]

Veronica Turner
Member of the Maryland House of Delegates
from the 26th district
Assumed office
January 9, 2019
Serving with Kris Valderrama and Jay Walker
Preceded byTony Knotts
In office
January 8, 2003 – January 14, 2015
Serving with Kris Valderrama, Jay Walker, Obie Patterson, and Darryl A. Kelley
Preceded byDavid M. Valderrama
Succeeded byTony Knotts
ConstituencyPrince George's County, Maryland
Personal details
Born (1950-02-07) February 7, 1950
Washington, D.C.
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseCarson Turner
ResidenceCamp Springs, Maryland

Background

Turner was born in Washington, D.C., on February 7, 1950. She attended Prince George's Community College, Tennessee State University, and the George Meany Center for Labor Studies. From 1996 to 2018, Turner served as the president of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 63.[1][2][3]

After the death of Prince George's County councilmember James C. Fletcher Jr. in 1994, Turner unsuccessfully ran in the special election to serve the rest of his term.[4] She unsuccessfully ran again for the County Council in 2002, losing to Tony Knotts in the Democratic primary by just over 200 votes.[5]

In the legislature

Turner was a member of the House of Delegates January 8, 2003, to January 14, 2015.[1] Turner declined to run for re-election in 2014, instead running for Maryland Senate and challenging incumbent state Senator C. Anthony Muse.[6] She lost to Muse in the Democratic primary election, coming 2,000 votes shy of defeating him.[7]

Turner was re-elected to the House of Delegates in 2018 and was sworn in on January 9, 2019.[1][8]

Committee assignments
  • Member, Economic Matters Committee, since 2019 (business regulation subcommittee, 2020–present; property & casualty insurance subcommittee, since 2020)
  • Member, Ways and Means Committee, 2019 (education subcommittee, 2019; election law subcommittee, 2019)
  • Member, Health and Government Operations Committee, 2003–2015 (government operations subcommittee, 2003–04; health occupations subcommittee, 2003–2004; public health subcommittee, 2003–2005; health insurance subcommittee, 2004; insurance subcommittee, 2004; health facilities, equipment & products subcommittee, 2005; health facilities & occupations subcommittee, 2005–2010; public health & long-term care subcommittee, 2005–2015; minority health disparities subcommittee, 2011–2015)
  • Member, Joint Committee on Health Care Delivery and Financing, 2005–2014
  • Member, Joint Committee on Children, Youth, and Families, 2011–2015
  • House Vice-Chair, Protocol Committee, 2014–2015

Other memberships
  • 2nd Vice-chair, Prince George's County Delegation, 2012–2014 (law enforcement & state-appointed boards committee, 2003–07; bi-county committee, 2008–2010; vice-chair, maryland-national capital park & planning commission committee, 2008–2010; vice-chair, county affairs committee, 2011–2012, member, 2013–2015)
  • Member, Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland, 2003–2015, since 2019 (2nd vice-chair, 2004–2006; 1st vice-chair, 2006–2008; chair, 2008–2010)
  • Member, Women Legislators of Maryland, 2003–2015, since 2019 (endorsement committee, 2006)

Political positions

Health care

Turner introduced legislation in the 2005 legislative session that would limit the amount of patients that nurses could care for. The bill was withdrawn on March 18, 2005.[9]

Social issues

Turner supported the Civil Marriage Protection Act, a bill to legalize same-sex marriage in Maryland, but was unable to vote for it because she had an emergency surgery for a serious illness on the day of the vote.[10][11][12] The bill passed the House of Delegates by a vote of 72–67[13] and was signed into law by Governor Martin O'Malley on March 2, 2012.[14]

In January 2019, Turner voted for legislation to lift a ban on developer contributions in county political races. The bill passed out of committee by a vote of 18-5.[15]

Electoral history
Maryland House of Delegates District 26 Democratic Primary Election, 2002[16]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Obie Patterson 10,248 23.9
Democratic Veronica Turner 7,349 17.1
Democratic Darryl A. Kelley 6,109 14.2
Democratic Frederick Hutchinson 6,032 14.0
Democratic Xavier A. Aragona 3,715 8.6
Democratic Joyce A. Beck 3,301 7.7
Democratic Henry W. Harris, Sr. 2,724 6.3
Democratic Al Barrett 2,310 5.4
Democratic Jackie Prentiss-Jones 1,163 2.7
Maryland House of Delegates District 26 Election, 2002[17]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Veronica Turner 22,482 29.8
Democratic Obie Patterson 21,794 28.9
Democratic Darryl A. Kelley 21,306 28.2
Republican JoAnn Fisher 3,675 4.9
Republican Dale L. Anderson 3,562 4.7
Republican Max Buff 2,623 3.5
Maryland House of Delegates District 26 Democratic Primary Election, 2006[18]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Veronica Turner 8,489 19.1
Democratic Jay Walker 6,184 13.9
Democratic Kris Valderrama 6,177 13.9
Democratic Ollie Anderson 6,087 13.7
Democratic Darryl A. Kelley 5,125 11.6
Democratic Earl Adams 4,603 10.4
Democratic Jerry J. Mathis 2,972 6.7
Democratic Nathaniel Bryant 1,939 4.4
Democratic Xavier Aragona 1,823 4.1
Democratic Jocelyne G. Stichberry 947 2.1
Maryland House of Delegates District 26 Election, 2006[19]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Veronica Turner 24,891 34.1
Democratic Kris Valderrama 22,231 30.5
Democratic Jay Walker 22,162 30.4
Republican John Rowe 3,587 4.9
Write-In 108 0.1
Maryland House of Delegates District 26 Democratic Primary Election, 2010[20]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Veronica Turner 9,133 25.3
Democratic Jay Walker 8,181 22.7
Democratic Kris Valderrama 6,889 19.1
Democratic Ollie Anderson 5,302 14.7
Democratic Sidney L. Gibson 3,703 10.3
Democratic Hopal "Hope" Felton 1,540 4.3
Democratic Branndon D. Jackson 1,318 3.7
Maryland House of Delegates District 26 Election, 2010[21]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Veronica Turner 27,770 35.0
Democratic Jay Walker 24,328 30.7
Democratic Kris Valderrama 24,141 30.5
Republican Holly Ellison Henderson 2,916 3.7
Write-In 107 0.1
Maryland Senate District 26 Election, 2014[22]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic C. Anthony Muse 7,676 50.7
Democratic Veronica Turner 5,002 33.0
Democratic Brian Patrick Woolfolk 1,351 8.9
Democratic Jerry J. Mathis 1,116 7.4
Maryland House of Delegates District 26 Democratic Primary Election, 2018[23]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Jay Walker 11,749 24.3
Democratic Veronica Turner 10,197 21.1
Democratic Kris Valderrama 9,590 19.8
Democratic David Sloan 4,403 9.2
Democratic Sade Oshinubi 4,153 8.6
Democratic Leonard "Lennie" Moses 3,475 7.2
Democratic Diedra Henry-Spires 2,912 6.0
Democratic Sean Chao 1,812 3.8
Maryland House of Delegates District 26 Election, 2018[24]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Veronica Turner 35,748 35.1
Democratic Kris Valderrama 32,523 32.0
Democratic Jay Walker 11,749 24.3
Democratic Diedra Henry-Spires (Write In) 1,852 1.8
Write-In 509 0.5

References
  1. "Veronica L. Turner, Maryland State Delegate". Maryland Manual On-Line. Maryland State Archives. Retrieved May 31, 2022.
  2. Pan, Philip (January 30, 1998). "PR. GEORGE'S DOES MASS DNA TESTING". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 31, 2022.
  3. DePuyt, Bruce (May 16, 2018). "Gloves Come Off in Prince George's County Over Super PAC Mailer". Maryland Matters. Retrieved May 31, 2022.
  4. Pierre, Robert (July 21, 1994). "ELECTIONS COULD BRING WHOLESALE CHANGES". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 31, 2022.
  5. Schwartzman, Paul (April 24, 2002). "Knotts Wins Primary For Gourdine's Seat". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 31, 2022.
  6. Sessa-Hawkins, Margaret (June 18, 2014). "In PG District 26, Sen. Muse has two strong challengers". MarylandReporter.com. Retrieved May 31, 2022.
  7. Lazarick, Len (June 25, 2014). "Democratic establishment largely prevails from top to bottom, as few State House incumbents lose". MarylandReporter.com. Retrieved May 31, 2022.
  8. Hernández, Arelis; Wiggins, Ovetta (January 9, 2019). "Meet the freshman class of the Maryland General Assembly". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 31, 2022.
  9. "Nurse staffing bill withdrawn". The Daily Record. March 18, 2005. Retrieved May 31, 2022.
  10. "House gay marriage supporter could miss final vote on bill". The Daily Record. Associated Press. February 16, 2012. Retrieved May 31, 2022.
  11. "Beidle, Olszewski will both vote yes on same-sex marriage". The Baltimore Sun. February 16, 2012. Retrieved May 31, 2022.
  12. Linskey, Annie (February 17, 2012). "Maryland lawmakers under national pressure on marriage bill". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved May 31, 2022.
  13. Tavernise, Sabrina (February 17, 2012). "In Maryland, House Passes Bill to Let Gays Wed". New York Times. Retrieved May 31, 2022.
  14. McParland, Tom (March 2, 2012). "O'Malley Signs Same-Sex Marriage Bill as Opponents Push Referendum". Capital News Service. Retrieved May 31, 2022.
  15. Kurtz, Josh (January 25, 2019). "Bill on Prince George's Developer Contributions Advances". Maryland Matters. Retrieved May 31, 2022.
  16. "2002 Gubernatorial Election Official Results: Legislative District 26". Maryland State Board of Elections.
  17. "2002 Gubernatorial General - Official Results". Maryland State Board of Elections.
  18. "Official 2006 Gubernatorial Primary Election results for Legislative District 26". Maryland State Board of Elections.
  19. "Official 2006 Gubernatorial General Election results for Legislative District 26". Maryland State Board of Elections.
  20. "Official 2010 Gubernatorial Primary Election results for House of Delegates". Maryland State Board of Elections.
  21. "Official 2010 Gubernatorial General Election results for House of Delegates". Maryland State Board of Elections.
  22. "Official 2014 Gubernatorial Primary Election results for State Senator". Maryland State Board of Elections.
  23. "Official 2018 Gubernatorial Primary Election results for House of Delegates". Maryland State Board of Elections.
  24. "Official 2018 Gubernatorial General Election results for House of Delegates". Maryland State Board of Elections.
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