Kweisi Mfume | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2022 | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromMaryland's7th district | |
| Assumed office May 5, 2020 | |
| Preceded by | Elijah Cummings |
| In office January 3, 1987 – February 15, 1996 | |
| Preceded by | Parren Mitchell |
| Succeeded by | Elijah Cummings |
| President and CEO of theNAACP | |
| In office February 20, 1996 – November 30, 2004 | |
| Preceded by | Rupert Richardson (President) Earl Shinhoster (Executive Director) |
| Succeeded by | Dennis Courtland Hayes (acting) |
| Member of theBaltimore City Council from the 4th district | |
| In office 1978–1986 | |
| Preceded by | Multi-member district |
| Succeeded by | Multi-member district |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Frizzell Gerard Tate (1948-10-24)October 24, 1948 (age 77) |
| Party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | |
| Children | 6 |
| Education | Morgan State University (BS) Johns Hopkins University (MA) |
| Signature |  |
| Website | House website Campaign website |
Kweisi Mfume (/kwaɪˈiːsiʊmˈfuːmeɪ/kwy-EE-see uum-FOO-may; bornFrizzell Gerard Tate;[1] October 24, 1948) is an American politician who is theU.S. representative forMaryland's 7th congressional district, first serving from 1987 to 1996 and again since 2020. A member of theDemocratic Party, Mfume first left his seat to become thepresident andCEO of theNational Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), a position he held from 1996 to 2004. In2006, he ran for theUnited States Senate seat being vacated byPaul Sarbanes, losing the Democratic primary to the eventual winner,Ben Cardin. Mfume returned to his former House seat in 2020 after it was left vacant by the death ofElijah Cummings.[2]
Mfume was born as Frizzell Gerard Tate[1] inBaltimore,Maryland, on October 24, 1948, the eldest of four. As a child, his surname was changed to Gray after his stepfather, a truck driver who abandoned his family in Gray's youth. Upon the death of his mother, Gray dropped out of high school at 16 to begin working as many as three jobs at a time to support his three sisters. He also began hanging around on street corners, which included being in the company of gang members.
He changed his name to Kweisi Mfume in the early 1970s.[3]
In his 1996 autobiography,No Free Ride, Mfume wrote that he "was locked up a couple of times on suspicion of theft because [he] happened to be black and happened to be young." Speculation as to the degree of his entanglement with the law has varied, especially as he later came into prominence. He fathered five children with several different women during his teenage years. He has since adopted another child.[4][5]
Mfume received aBachelor of Science degree fromMorgan State University in 1976 and aMaster of Science degree fromJohns Hopkins University in 1984.[6]
.jpg)
In 1978, Mfume was elected to theBaltimore City Council,[7] where he opposed mayorWilliam Donald Schaefer, whom he accused of ignoring the city's poor neighborhoods. He was elected to theU.S. House of Representatives in 1986.
.jpg)
In November 1986, Mfume was elected to representMaryland's 7th congressional district, succeeding fellow DemocratParren Mitchell. He won reelection four times.
Mfume made himself known as a Democrat with an apparent balance between progressive ideologies and a capacity for practical compromise, representing a district that included both West Baltimore and suburban and rural communities, though his primary goal was an increase in federal aid to American inner cities. From 1993 to 1995, Mfume served as chairman of theCongressional Black Caucus.[8]
In February 1996, Mfume left the House to accept the presidency of theNational Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), saying that he could do more to improve Americancivil rights there than in Congress.[9] He reformed the NAACP's finances to pay off its considerable debt while pursuing the cause of civil rights advancement for African Americans. Though many in Baltimore wanted Mfume to run formayor in the1999 election, he stayed with the NAACP.[10]
Mfume stepped down from the NAACP in 2004 after an internal investigation of allegations that he had sexually harassed female subordinates.[11] He acknowledged dating an NAACP employee,[12] and in May 2005 apologized for having had the affair while leading the organization.[13]
The NAACP reportedly paid out $100,000 to settle Mfume's alleged improprieties.[14]
On March 14, 2005, Mfume announced that he would seek theUnited States Senate seat of incumbentPaul Sarbanes, following Sarbanes's announcement that he would not seek reelection in 2006.[15] Mfume lost the Democratic primary for this seat on September 12, 2006, to U.S. RepresentativeBen Cardin.[16]
In the wake of his primary defeat, Mfume was believed to be consideringrunning for mayor of Baltimore in 2007, though he had not publicly expressed interest in it.[17][18] On November 13, 2006, Mfume told a Baltimore-area radio station, "I don't have any plans to run for mayor. She [incoming mayorSheila Dixon]'s worked for and deserves an opportunity to lead. ... I want her to succeed. I want the city to be united. I think at this point we owe her at least the opportunity to try to lead it."
.jpg)
In March 2010, Mfume was named chief executive officer of theNational Medical Association (NMA).[19] In late 2010, he was again rumored to be considering a run in the2011 Baltimore mayoral election.[20] He left the NMA in June 2011.[21]
In May 2013, Mfume was named chair of the board of regents of his alma mater,Morgan State University. He assumed the position on July 1, 2013, succeeding the interim chair Martin Resnick.[22]
From 2013 to 2018, Mfume was the principal investigator for the Health Policy Research Consortium.[23]
On November 4, 2019, Mfume announced his candidacy for thespecial election for his old congressional seat to fill the vacancy created by the October death of his predecessor,Elijah Cummings.[24] On February 4, 2020, Mfume won the Democratic nomination, defeatingMaya Rockeymoore Cummings, Elijah Cummings's widow. As the 7th is a heavily Democratic district, this all but assured Mfume's return to Congress after a 24-year absence. He defeated Republican nomineeKimberly Klacik in the general election on April 28, 2020[25][2] and was sworn in on May 5.[26]
Mfumeran for a full term in the November 2020 race and won, defeating Klacik in a rematch.[24]
Mfume won the general election with 80.25% of the vote, defeating Republican nominee Scott Collier and Libertarian nominee Ronald Owens-Bey.[27]
In the119th Congress Mfume serves on the following committees:[28][29]
Source:[30]
Mfume voted with President Joe Biden's stated position 100% of the time in the117th Congress, according to aFiveThirtyEight analysis.[36]
Mfume is a member of thePrince Hall Freemasons[37] andOmega Psi Phi fraternity.
His first marriage to Linda Shields was from 1972 to 1975; it ended in divorce.[1]In 2012, he married Tiffany McMillan, the granddaughter ofEnolia McMillan, the first female president of the NAACP.[38] He has six children, including Michael Mfume, who wrote, produced, directed and starred in the 1992 slasher filmAx 'Em.
Mfume acknowledged yesterday that he dated one of the women in that altercation, a female NAACP employee
has acknowledged having an affair with one of the women, D'Andrea Lancelin
Though the allegations against Mfume prompted the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to reportedly pay a settlement of about $100,000 to a former female employee, many local leaders in the nation's oldest civil rights organization say they are relieved that the public relations damage isn't worse.
Many believed that the Bolton Hill resident was going to wait until former U.S. Rep. Kweisi Mfume decided whether to seek the office.
Baltimore's former congressman dominated the 2007 mayoral election into February—without so much as suggesting he wanted to run.
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromMaryland's 7th congressional district 1987–1996 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chair of theCongressional Black Caucus 1993–1995 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chair of theJoint Economic Committee 1994–1995 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromMaryland's 7th congressional district 2020–present | Incumbent |
| Non-profit organization positions | ||
| Preceded byas President of the NAACP | President and CEO of theNAACP 1996–2004 | Succeeded by Dennis Courtland Hayes Acting |
| Preceded byas Executive Director of the NAACP | ||
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded by | United States representatives by seniority 78th | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
