Kweisi Mfume

Early life and education

Mfume was born as Frizzell Gerard Tate in Baltimore, 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.

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.

Mfume received a Bachelor of Science degree from Morgan State University in 1976 and a Master of Science degree from Johns Hopkins University in 1984.

Early career

In 1978, Mfume was elected to the Baltimore City Council, where he opposed mayor William Donald Schaefer, whom he accused of ignoring the city's poor neighborhoods. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1986.

U.S. House of Representatives (1987–1996)

In November 1986, Mfume was elected to represent , succeeding fellow Democrat Parren 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 the Congressional Black Caucus.

Post-congressional career

NAACP

In February 1996, Mfume left the House to accept the presidency of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), saying that he could do more to improve American civil rights there than in Congress. 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 for mayor in the 1999 election, he stayed with the NAACP.

Mfume stepped down from the NAACP in 2004 after an internal investigation of allegations that he had sexually harassed female subordinates. He acknowledged dating an NAACP employee, and in May 2005 apologized for having had the affair while leading the organization.

The NAACP reportedly paid out $100,000 to settle Mfume's alleged improprieties.

2006 U.S. Senate campaign

Main article: 2006 United States Senate election in Maryland

On March 14, 2005, Mfume announced that he would seek the United States Senate seat of incumbent Paul Sarbanes, following Sarbanes's announcement that he would not seek reelection in 2006. Mfume lost the Democratic primary for this seat on September 12, 2006, to U.S. Representative Ben Cardin.

In the wake of his primary defeat, Mfume was believed to be considering running for mayor of Baltimore in 2007, though he had not publicly expressed interest in it. On November 13, 2006, Mfume told a Baltimore-area radio station, "I don't have any plans to run for mayor. She incoming mayor [Sheila 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."

2007–2020

In March 2010, Mfume was named chief executive officer of the National Medical Association (NMA). In late 2010, he was again rumored to be considering a run in the 2011 Baltimore mayoral election. He left the NMA in June 2011.

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.

From 2013 to 2018, Mfume was the principal investigator for the Health Policy Research Consortium.

Return to the U.S. House of Representatives (2020–present)

Elections

2020 special

Main article: 2020 Maryland's 7th congressional district special election

On November 4, 2019, Mfume announced his candidacy for the special election for his old congressional seat to fill the vacancy created by the October death of his predecessor, Elijah Cummings. On February 4, 2020, Mfume won the Democratic nomination, defeating Maya 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 nominee Kimberly Klacik in the general election on April 28, 2020 and was sworn in on May 5.

2020

Mfume ran for a full term in the November 2020 race and won, defeating Klacik in a rematch.

2022

2024

Mfume won the general election with 80.25% of the vote, defeating Republican nominee Scott Collier and Libertarian nominee Ronald Owens-Bey.

Committee assignments

In the 119th Congress Mfume serves on the following committees:

• Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
  • Subcommittee on Government Operations (Ranking Member)
  • Subcommittee on Military and Foreign Affairs
• Committee on Foreign Affairs
  • Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa
  • Subcommittee on South and Central Asia

Caucus memberships

Source:

• Black Maternal Health Caucus{{cite web|title=Caucus Members
• Congressional Black Caucus
• Congressional Equality Caucus
• Congressional Progressive Caucus
• Congressional Ukraine Caucus
• Congressional Bipartisan HBCU Caucus
• Congressional Caribbean Caucus

Political positions

Mfume voted with President Joe Biden's stated position 100% of the time in the 117th Congress, according to a FiveThirtyEight analysis.

Personal life

Mfume is a member of the Prince Hall Freemasons and Omega Psi Phi fraternity.

His first marriage to Linda Shields was from 1972 to 1975; it ended in divorce. In 2012, he married Tiffany McMillan, the granddaughter of Enolia McMillan, the first female president of the NAACP. He has six children, including Michael Mfume, who wrote, produced, directed and starred in the 1992 slasher film Ax 'Em.

References

References

1. Bock, James. (August 9, 1996). "From street hustler to president of NAACP: Autobiography traces Mfume's journey to success".
2. (29 April 2020). "Ex-NAACP leader Kweisi Mfume wins Maryland seat in Congress". Associated Press.
3. (March 27, 2008). "Kweisi Mfume (Frizzel Gray) (1948- )".
4. Hall, Wiley. (December 1, 2004). "NAACP president Mfume resigns". [[The Spokesman-Review]].
5. (November 30, 2004). "CNN.com - NAACP chief Mfume resigns - Nov 30, 2004". CNN.
6. "Mfume, Kweisi".
7. "Our Campaigns - Candidate - Kweisi Mfume".
8. (2020-05-05). "Congressional Black Caucus". Congressional Black Caucus.
9. (February 20, 1996). "U.S. News Briefs". [[CNN]].
10. Janofsky, Michael. (May 25, 1999). "N.A.A.C.P. Chief Rules Out Running for Mayor of Baltimore". [[The New York Times]].
11. Brewington, Kelly. (May 8, 2005). "Pattern of abuse claims at NAACP kept quiet". [[The Baltimore Sun]].
12. (April 28, 2005). "Mfume Accused of Favoritism At NAACP". The Washington Post.
13. (May 17, 2005). "Affair with staffer a mistake, Mfume says". The Baltimore Sun.
14. Brewington, Kelly. (May 23, 2005). "Scandal at top of NAACP felt little by local organizations". The Baltimore Sun.
15. (March 14, 2005). "Civil Rights Leader Announces Bid For U.S. Senate". [[WBAL-TV]].
16. (September 13, 2006). "Cardin beats Mfume in Maryland Senate race". [[NBC News]].
17. (January 6, 2007). "Keiffer Mitchell to run for mayor". [[The Baltimore Sun]].
18. (March 1, 2007). "Power 50".
19. Ginyard, Tiffany. (2010-03-25). "Kweisi Mfume to Head National Medical Association".
20. Scharper, Julie. (November 14, 2010). "Challengers emerge to Rawlings-Blake in 2011 mayor's race". [[The Baltimore Sun]].
21. Dale, Gregory. (March 20, 2011). "Kweisi Mfume stepping down as CEO of National Medical Association".
22. Rector, Kevin. (May 9, 2013). "Mfume named chair of Morgan State board, signals Wilson will stay". [[The Baltimore Sun]].
23. Bowman, Bridget. (April 29, 2014). "Mfume Brings Dose of Activism to Health Policy".
24. Young, Blair. (November 4, 2019). "Kweisi Mfume announces candidacy for District 7 seat". [[WBAL-TV]].
25. Barker, Jeff. (February 4, 2020). "Kweisi Mfume wins Democratic nomination for Maryland's 7th District". [[The Baltimore Sun]].
26. (May 5, 2020). "Just sworn in, U.S. Rep. Kweisi Mfume says he'll 'have a conversation' with late friend Elijah Cummings". The Baltimore Sun.
27. "Official 2024 Presidential General Election Results for Representative in Congress". [[Maryland State Board of Elections]].
28. "Member Information for U.S. Representative Kweisi Mfume.". Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives.
29. (2021-01-03). "Committees and Caucuses".
30. "Membership". Congressional Black Caucus.
31. "About the CEC". CEC.
32. "Caucus Members". Congressional Progressive Caucus.
33. "Members". Congressional Ukraine Caucus.
34. Bycoffe, Aaron. (2021-04-22). "Does Your Member Of Congress Vote With Or Against Biden?".
35. "Famous Prince Hall Freemasons".
36. Portnoy, Jenna. (January 17, 2020). "Mfume says he still has what it takes to continue Elijah Cummings's legacy". The Washington Post.