Victoria Jackson-Stanley

Victoria Jackson-Stanley (born August 20, 1953) is an American politician and the first African-American and the first woman^[1] to be elected Mayor of Cambridge, Maryland.^[2]

Background

Jackson-Stanley was born in and grew up in a racially segregated Cambridge, where blacks lived in a section called Ward Two and attended segregated schools. The town had a history of racial unrest, with race riots making headlines in the 1960s.^[3] By the 1970s, the town integrated and she was among the first black students to attend the previously all-white Cambridge High School.^[4]
Jackson-Stanley is currently the deputy director of the Dorchester County Department of Social Services.^[5] She and her husband, Jerome, live in Cambridge; they have a daughter and a grandson.

Election

On June 10, 2008, in a non-partisan primary election Jackson-Stanley and incumbent Mayor Cleveland Rippons won the right to face each other in the July general election. Rippons received 696 votes, Jackson-Stanley 674 votes and Octavene Saunders finished third with 128 votes.^[6] Under Cambridge local election laws, only the top two vote-getters qualify for a run-off general election. During the general election campaign, Jackson-Stanley went door-to-door in the City of Cambridge touting her leadership skills and vowed to hire competent professionals to head vital city departments. Rippons, an eight-year incumbent, was criticized during the campaign for his support of the expansion of development in and around Cambridge.^[5] On July 8, 2008 voters chose Jackson-Stanley over Rippons by a 1,383 to 1,231 margin.^[7] Although Cambridge is composed equally of black and white residents, neither candidate felt that the other brought up race as an issue.^[4] Residents agreed that economic growth and other concerns were more important than gender or race.^[8] Jackson-Stanley was sworn in on July 21, 2008.^[9] She won a second term in July 2012.^[10]

References