A partner at the law firm of Ivey & Levetown, he served as the state's attorney forPrince George's County, Maryland, from 2002 to 2011.[1] Ivey won the 2022 Democratic primary for the 4th congressional district overDonna Edwards, who previously represented the district for four terms, and then defeated the Republican nominee. According to theCook Partisan Voting Index, his district is tied withCalifornia's 12th for the most Democratic in the country, with an index rating of D+40.[2][3]
After graduating from Harvard Law School in 1986, Ivey worked for the Baltimore law firm of Gordon-Feinblatt.[4] From 1987 to 1988, he worked on Capitol Hill as an aide to U.S. representativeJohn Conyers,[6] after which he returned to law, working for Preston, Gates, Ellis & Rouvelas.[4]
In March 1998, GovernorParris Glendening named Ivey to serve as chairman of theMaryland Public Service Commission.[12] As chairman, Ivey oversaw thederegulation of Maryland's electric power industry and helped the PSC determine how to monitor telephone services and foster competition in the telecommunications industry. On October 18, 2000, Ivey announced that he would resign from the PSC by the end of the month to become a partner at theK&L Gates law firm, and said he was contemplating a 2002 run for Prince George's county state's attorney.[7]
Ivey ran for Prince George's county state's attorney in 2002, seeking to succeed outgoing state's attorneyJack B. Johnson. In the primary, he was endorsed by U.S. representativeAlbert Wynn,[13] U.S. senatorPaul Sarbanes,[14] andThe Washington Post.[15] He defeated deputy state's attorney Mark Spencer in the primary with 60.0% of the vote.[16] He ran unopposed in the general election.[17]
Following the end of his second term as state's attorney, Ivey became a partner atVenable LLP[18] before moving to a position as a partner at Leftwich & Ludaway, in Washington, D.C., from 2012 to 2017.[4][9] Afterward, he was a partner at the District-based law firm Price Benowitz.[19] In 2020, Ivey opened his own law firm, Ivey & Levetown, inGreenbelt, Maryland.[20]
Ivey taught trial advocacy at Harvard Law School during winter sessions from 2013 to 2021 and was anadjunct professor at theUniversity of Maryland School of Law from 1995 to 2014.[4][21] He is a past president of the D.C. chapter of the Harvard Law School Association,[22] a former chair of the Maryland Legal Services Corporation,[23] and a former member of the D.C. Bar Association's board of governors.[4]
In July 2020, Prince George's county executiveAngela Alsobrooks appointed Ivey to serve as the chair of the county's police reform task force.[24] During committee meetings, Ivey scrutinized policies surroundingpretextual traffic stops, which experts say can enable racial profiling and precipitate a police shooting.[25][26] The committee released its final report on December 3, which included recommendations relating to community engagement, employee hiring and retention, police department finances, internal oversight, and standards and regulations.[27][28]
Ivey ran and was elected twice as state's attorney for Prince George's county and served from January 2003 to January 2011.[31][6][8] In November 2009, he declined to run for Prince George's county executive or for a third term as state's attorney, instead forming an exploratory committee to look at challenging U.S. representativeDonna Edwards in the 2010 elections.[32][33] In January 2010, he decided against running for a third term or against Edwards, saying he wanted to return to the private sector after the end of his term.[34]
When Ivey took office in December 2002, Prince George's county had the second-highest crime rate in Maryland. During his two terms as state's attorney, he oversaw reductions in crime and led reform measures that put cameras in police interrogation rooms and prosecuted officers accused of excessive force.[35] He sought to involve community groups in crafting policies and strategies for tackling crime in the county[36] and partnered with faith leaders to assist domestic violence survivors and to gain tougher sentences for convicted offenders.[37]
In October 2002, following the arrest ofD.C. snipersLee Boyd Malvo andJohn Allen Muhammad, Ivey declined to prosecute them in his county because of their murder convictions in both Maryland and Virginia.[38]
In July 2008, Ivey's office faced intense public scrutiny to hold someone accountable following the strangulation death of 19-year-old Ronnie White, who was accused of killing a police officer.[6][40] In December, the grand jury involved in the death investigation had concluded its deliberations, determining that it had insufficient evidence to bring down indictments in the case.[41] After a yearlong investigation, Ivey announced that there was no evidence to support murder charges against jail employees.[42] TheDepartment of Justice also reviewed the case[43] and concluded that there was insufficient evidence to charge anyone with murder or manslaughter.[44]
In August 2010, Ivey endorsedAngela Alsobrooks, the executive director of the Prince George's county revenue authority, to succeed him as Prince George's county state's attorney.[45][46]
In September 2015, Ivey announced that he would again run for the House of Representatives in Maryland's 4th congressional district, seeking to succeed Edwards, who unsuccessfully ran forUnited States Senate in2016.[37]
The primary was held on April 26, 2016. Brown defeated Ivey, 41.6% to 34.0%, a margin of 8,712 votes out of 114,623 cast. Peña-Melnyk took 19.0%.[64] Ivey worked as an attorney in private practice following his loss.[65]
On October 26, 2021, Ivey again declared his candidacy for the House of Representatives in Maryland's 4th congressional district, seeking to succeed outgoing three-term DemocratAnthony Brown, who ran forattorney general of Maryland in2022. Redistricting after the 2020 census had preserved the 4th's longstanding heavy Democratic tint, and it was understood that whoever won the Democratic primary would be heavily favored in the general election.[65][66]
During the primary, he was endorsed byThe Washington Post,[67] former Maryland governorParris Glendening,[68] former Prince George's county executiveRushern Baker,[69] former Montgomery county executiveIke Leggett,[70] and various municipal leaders.[71] Ivey turned a 13-point deficit into a five-point lead over Edwards by early June.[72]
The primary was held on July 19, 2022. Ivey defeated Edwards, 51.8% to 35.2%, a margin of 13,677 votes out of 82,662 cast. Former state delegateAngela Angel took 5.7% of the vote.[73][74][75]
Ivey won the general election on November 8, 2022, defeating Republican nominee Jeff Warner with over 90 percent of the vote, one of the largest margins for a Democrat facing major-party opposition.[76]
Ivey campaigning for the passage of a 2012 bill to end capital punishment in Maryland.
When Ivey first took office as state's attorney in 2002, he said he believed in using thedeath penalty.[77] He sought the death penalty several times during his tenure as state's attorney,[78][79][80] and said in November 2007 that he filed notice of his intent to seek death in case about once a year.[81]
In February 2009, Ivey testified before theMaryland House of Delegates' Judicial Proceedings Committee that he had had a change of heart during his time as state's attorney, particularly because of the effect the process had on victims' families.[77] In January 2012, he called the death penalty a "political tool".[82] Ahead of the 2013 legislative session, Ivey pushed for a bill that would repeal the death penalty in Maryland, which became law.[83][84]
Ivey opposes theIran nuclear deal negotiated by theObama administration in 2015. In December 2021, he said he wanted a commitment to "full and neutral inspections [of Iranian nuclear sites]" and an end to Iran's funding ofHamas andHezbollah before the U.S. reenters the deal.[21]
In 2006, Ivey traveled to Israel with other local elected officials on aJewish Community Relations Council trip.[86] He took two trips between September 2023 and October 2024 organized byAIPAC.[87]
Ivey supports atwo-state solution to theIsraeli–Palestinian conflict and "Israel's right to exist and defend itself".[88][21] In December 2021, he said he would vote to fund Israel'sIron Dome missile-defense system and opposed placing conditions on U.S. foreign aid to Israel to leverage components of negotiations about a two-state solution.[21]
As state's attorney, Ivey sought increased sentences for gun offenders, targeting those who carry or store guns illegally, regardless of whether the weapon is used in crimes or if the person charged is a first-time offender. He also said he supported the "Boston Strategy" for youth violence, which involves targeting gangs and prosecuting all offenders tied to a crime to get long sentences.[91][92] In March 2008, Ivey joined anamicus curae brief in theU.S. Supreme Court caseDistrict of Columbia v. Heller in support of the District of Columbia'shandgun ban.[93] In March 2010, he signed onto an amicus curae written by theAssociation of Prosecuting Attorneys for the U.S. Supreme Court inMcDonald v. Chicago.[94]
In April 2023, Ivey introduced his first bill, the Raise The Age Act, which would raise the legal age to buy asemi-automatic rifle orshotgun from 18 to 21.[96][97]
During his 2022 campaign, Ivey said he would seek to tie federal police funding to departments serious about rethinking policing tactics.[101] He also said he would be willing to work with police to fight crime while "holding accountable" officers engaged in misconduct.[68] He does not support the "Defund the Police" movement, arguing that it damaged Democrats electorally and served as a "distraction" from real issues.[21]
Ivey speaks at a press conference to support building the new FBI Headquarters in Prince George's County, 2023.
In November 2022, Ivey said he supported bringing the newFederal Bureau of Investigation headquarters to Prince George's County, later citing it as one of his top priorities.[103][104] In March 2023, Ivey joined other Democratic members of Maryland's congressional delegation, GovernorWes Moore, and Prince George's County ExecutiveAngela Alsobrooks in co-signing a letter to PresidentJoe Biden asking him to get involved in the FBI's headquarters selection process.[105] In November 2023, theGeneral Services Administration announced that it would locate the FBI's new headquarters inGreenbelt, Maryland.[106] In March 2025, however, PresidentDonald Trump blocked the FBI's move to Maryland, saying that the agency should be located in Washington, D.C., as opposed to "liberal" Maryland.[107] In July 2025, after Trump said that he wanted the new FBI headquarters to be theRonald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, D.C., Ivey signed onto a letter saying that they would "be fighting back against this proposal with every tool we have".[108]
Ivey at the swearing in of his wifeJolene Ivey with two of his sons, includingJulian Ivey
Ivey met his future wife,Jolene Stephenson, through a mutual friend who attended Stephenson's high school and Ivey's law school. They have been married since 1988, have five children—including Maryland delegateJulian Ivey—and live inCheverly, Maryland. Ivey also has another daughter from a previous relationship.[119] He is aProtestant.[120]
In February 2004, Ivey took a leave of absence of several weeks to undergo surgery to remove a bean-sizedcancertumor on hiskidney. His doctors told him that the cancer was detected early and his chances of a full recovery were good.[121] He has been cancer-free since.[122]
.jpg)
.jpg)
