Donna Fern Edwards (born June 28, 1958) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2008 to 2017. The district included most of Prince George's County, as well as part of Anne Arundel County. She is a member of the Democratic Party.
A lawyer and longtime community activist, she defeated eight-term incumbent Albert Wynn in the 2008 Democratic primary and, following his resignation, won a special election on June 17, 2008, to fill the remainder of this term. She was sworn in two days later on June 19, becoming the first African-American woman to represent Maryland in the United States Congress. Edwards ran for a full term in November 2008, defeating Republican candidate Peter James with 85% of the vote. She ran for U.S. Senate in 2016 in the primary to replace retiring Barbara Mikulski instead of running for re-election to her Congressional seat but was defeated by Congressman Chris Van Hollen in the Democratic primary. In 2022, Edwards ran unsuccessfully for the congressional seat she previously held, losing to Glenn Ivey in the Democratic primary.
In 2013, she sponsored an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would repeal the 2010 Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission.
Early life, education, and career
Edwards was born in Yanceyville, North Carolina. She earned B.A. degrees in English and Spanish from Wake Forest University, where she was one of only six black women in the class of 1980. After working for Lockheed Corporation at the Goddard Space Flight Center with the Spacelab program, she attended and earned a J.D. in 1989 from the Franklin Pierce Law Center (now known as the University of New Hampshire School of Law). Edwards worked for Albert Wynn as a clerk in the 1980s, when he served in the Maryland House of Delegates.
Community activism
Edwards co-founded and served as the first executive director of the National Network to End Domestic Violence, an advocacy and legal support group for battered women. She worked to pass the 1994 Violence Against Women Act.
She later worked with Public Citizen, and then as the executive director of the Center for a New Democracy. In 2000, she became the executive director of the Arca Foundation, taking a leave of absence during her political campaign.
In the spring of 2015, Edwards, along with several other members of the House of Representatives, introduced the Restoring Education and Learning Act (REAL Act) to bring back Pell Grants to prisoners. Edwards' press release outlines numerous advantages to prisoner education, including net benefits to taxpayers who bear the costs of recidivism.
Edwards is a national co-chair of the progressive group Health Care Voter.
U.S. House of Representatives
Elections
2006
Edwards challenged seven-term incumbent Al Wynn in the 2006 Democratic primary – the real contest in this heavily Democratic, black-majority district. Edwards focused primarily on Wynn's voting record. Wynn, considered a conservative by African-American Democratic standards, was one of four Congressional Black Caucus members that voted for the 2002 Iraq War resolution. Edwards condemned the war before it started. Wynn eventually began to say he was misled by the Bush Administration and his vote was a mistake. Edwards opposed the repeal of the estate tax, which Wynn voted for. Similarly, Edwards criticized Wynn's vote for the bankruptcy bill of 2005, which eliminated some bankruptcy protections for individuals. Wynn supported the energy bill promoted by Vice President and former Halliburton CEO Dick Cheney. Wynn opposed the net neutrality bill of 2006, which Edwards supports.
On August 16, 2006, before a debate at Prince George's Community College, an altercation occurred between Wynn's staffers and an Edwards volunteer, leaving the volunteer with a bloody gash to the head. This event brought much media attention to the race.
On August 30, 2006, The Washington Post endorsed Edwards in the primary race.
The primary was held on September 12, 2006. Wynn defeated Edwards by 49.7 percent to 46.4 percent, with a margin of 2,725 votes out of more than 82,000 cast. George McDermott, a little-known candidate, took 3.9 percent. The final tally of the primary was unclear for nearly two weeks because of widespread voting problems on new electronic voting machines in Montgomery and Prince George's counties.
