Dereck Davis
Davis in 2023
24thTreasurer of Maryland
Incumbent
Assumed office December 17, 2021
Governor	Larry Hogan Wes Moore
Preceded by	Nancy Kopp
Member of theMaryland House of Delegates from the25th district
In office January 11, 1995 – December 17, 2021
Preceded by	Michael Arrington
Succeeded by	Karen Toles
Personal details
Born	Dereck Eugene Davis (1967-06-06)June 6, 1967 (age 57) Washington, D.C., U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Monique Whittington Davis
Children	2
Education	University of Maryland, College Park (BA,MPP)
Signature

Dereck Eugene Davis (born June 6, 1967) is anAmerican politician serving as theTreasurer of Maryland since 2021. A member of theDemocratic Party, he previously served as a member of theMaryland House of Delegates from the25th district from 1995 to 2021.

Davis was born inWashington, D.C. on June 6, 1967. After graduating fromCentral High School, he attended theUniversity of Maryland, College Park, where he earned aBachelor of Arts degree in 1989 and hisMasters of Public Policy in 1999.^[1]

Davis worked as an aide to thePrince George's County Council from 1988 to 1994, first as a constituent services aide and later as a legislative aide. In 1993, he was a member of the Prince George's County Nuisance Abatement Task Force. Davis was an administrator of theWashington Suburban Sanitary Commission from 2004 to 2011, and deputy director of the Prince George's County Office of Community Relations from 2011 to 2021.^[1]

Davis was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates in1994 and sworn in on January 11, 1995. He was a member of the Environmental Matters Committee from 1995 to 2003, afterwards serving as the chair of the Economic Matters Committee until 2021.^[1] Davis was the fourth African American to chair a House standing committee in Maryland and the first fromPrince George's County.^[2] He was also the chair of thePrince George's County Delegation from 2003 to 2005, 2013 to 2014, and from 2017 to 2021; and a member of theLegislative Black Caucus of Maryland.^[1]

The Washington Post has described Davis as acentrist^[2] and an ally of Prince George's County ExecutiveRushern Baker.^[3] He voted in favor ofelectric deregulation in 1999, but later called this vote a mistake.^[4] During his tenure as the chair of the Economic Matters Committee, he was involved in negotiations to avert a 72 percent rate increase inBaltimore Gas and Electric utility costs,^[5] which led into a special legislative session after legislators failed to pass a bill during the regular 2006 legislative session^[6] and eventually led to a bill that would temporarily cap rate increases to 15 percent and replace the five-memberMaryland Public Service Commission with regulators selected by the legislature.^[7] The bill passed and became law after the Maryland General Assembly voted to override GovernorBob Ehrlich's veto of the bill.^[8]

Davis supported bills to raise the minimum wage,^{[9][10][11][12]} ban smoking in bars and restaurants,^[13] repeal the ban on developer contributions to Prince George's County candidates,^[14] and many of GovernorMartin O'Malley's legislative priorities.^{[15][16][17][18]} He also defendedMaryland's 2010 congressional redistricting plan from criticism from the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland, saying that Democrats should focus on electing more progressives to theU.S. House of Representatives instead of making elections for incumbents "as easy as possible",^[19] and opposed bills to legalizesame-sex marriage in Maryland and offermedical aid in dying to terminally-ill patients.^[2]

In September 2008, Davis was questioned by theFederal Bureau of Investigation in its investigation into whether state senatorUlysses Currie, who worked as a consultant forShoppers Food & Pharmacy, used his position to push for bills that would benefit the grocery store chain. Davis testified before agrand jury in the Currie probe in May 2009,^[20] during which he spoke on an amendment introduced by Currie during the 2005 legislative session to transfer a beer-and-wine license from a Shopper's store inTakoma Park to one inCollege Park.^[21] Currie and two Shopper's executives were charged with extortion and bribery charges, but were acquitted after a six-week trial in 2011, after which Davis ran on a slate with Currie in 2014.^[22]

In April 2019, Following the funeral of House SpeakerMichael E. Busch, Davis announced that he would run forSpeaker of the Maryland House of Delegates.^[23] His candidacy was backed by Prince George's County ExecutiveAngela Alsobrooks,^[24] the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland,^[25] andHouse Republican Caucus.^[26] He was also backed byAdrienne A. Jones, who also declared her candidacy for Speaker but dropped out of the race after failing to capture enough support.^[27] On May 1, 2019, Davis andMaggie McIntosh, who was competing with Davis in the Speaker election, both agreed to withdraw from the race and back Jones after a four-hour, closed-door Democratic caucus meeting on the day of the election. Davis would have been the first African-American Speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates.^[28]

On April 15, 2015, after U.S. representativeDonna Edwards announced that she wouldrun for U.S. Senate in 2016, Davis announced that he would run for theU.S. House of Representatives inMaryland's 4th congressional district.^[29] During the Democratic primary, he received endorsements from more than a dozen members of theMaryland General Assembly and county councilmember Derrick Leon Davis,^[30] and raised about $464,000 in campaign contributions.^[31][32][33] Davis dropped out of the race on February 2, 2016, to focus on the legislative session.^[34]

In October 2021, Davis confirmed he would run forstate treasurer following the retirement ofNancy Kopp.^[35]Maryland General Assembly elected Davis as the next state treasurer on December 9, 2021. He was sworn in on December 17, becoming the first state treasurer fromPrince George’s County, and the second African-American to hold the position, afterRichard N. Dixon.^[36] During his tenure, Davis has placed additional scrutiny onto contracts with inadequate participation from historically disadvantaged business owners^[37] and raised concerns about settlements involving law enforcement agencies or correctional officers.^[38]

In December 2022, administrators of Maryland's529 college savings plan discovered a calculation error affecting all 31,000 prepaid accounts, which led to the Maryland Prepaid College Trust suspending interest payments and preventing families from accessing their prepaid plans.^[39] After being re-elected as treasurer in February 2023, Davis asked legislators to move the 529 program into the treasurer's office,^[40] which led to legislative leaders introducing a bill to do so.^[41][42] The bill passed^[43] and was signed into law by GovernorWes Moore on April 24, 2023.^[44] In July 2023, the treasurer's office restored interest earned to the same rates account owners held under their previous contract and that all balances or contributions made after July 2024 would not earn interest.^[45]

In June 2023,Maryland Matters reported that Davis was continuing to raise funds for his campaign account as state treasurer, which he said was to stay "prepared" for the future and that he had no plans to leave his position.^[46] He continued to raise funds during the 2024 legislative session,^[47] during which he supported a bill that would add the state treasurer to the list of state officials that were prohibited from raising campaign funds while the legislature was in session.^[48] The bill passed and was signed into law by Governor Moore.^[49]

Davis was an at-large delegate to the2024 Democratic National Convention, pledged toKamala Harris.^[50]

Davis is married to his wife, Monique Whittington Davis, who served as deputy superintendent ofPrince George's County Public Schools from 2013 to 2018.^[51][3] Together, they have a son and a daughter.^[52]

• 1967 births
• Living people
• 20th-century African-American politicians
• 21st-century African-American politicians
• 20th-century members of the Maryland General Assembly
• African-American state legislators in Maryland
• Candidates in the 2016 United States elections
• Democratic Party members of the Maryland House of Delegates
• People from Bowie, Maryland
• People from Capitol Heights, Maryland
• Politicians from Washington, D.C.
• State treasurers of Maryland
• Politicians from Prince George's County, Maryland
• African-American men in politics
• 21st-century members of the Maryland General Assembly

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