Rushern Baker

Rushern Leslie Baker III (born October 24, 1958) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 7th county executive of Prince George's County, Maryland from 2010 to 2018. He previously served as a member of the Maryland House of Delegates from 1994 to 2003, representing District 22B in northern Prince George's County. A member of the Democratic Party, Baker unsuccessfully ran for governor of Maryland in 2018 and 2022.

Early life and education Baker was born in Valdosta, Georgia, on October 24, 1958. His father, Rushern Jr., was an officer in the United States Army Special Forces and served in the Vietnam War and his mother, Carolyn, worked as a nurse's aide. Baker moved frequently during his childhood, including stints in Okinawa, Japan, before eventually settling in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Baker recalled having learning struggles in school. He attended five elementary schools, two middle schools, and two high schools before graduating from Classical High School, He was sworn in on August 11, 1994. Baker served as a member of the Judiciary Committee from 1995 to 1998, afterwards serving on the Appropriations Committee from 1999 to 2003. He was also a member of the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland and was the chair of the Prince George's County Delegation from 1999 to 2003. a bill designating English as the official state language, and the nomination of Richard N. Dixon—whose policies Baker compared to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas—as Maryland State Treasurer. He supported bills to ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, require the state to translate all public documents and forms into Spanish, and limit the powers of the Prince George's County Board of Education.

Prince George's County Executive Elections 2002

In early 2000, Baker announced that he would run for Prince George's County Executive in 2002, seeking to succeed term-limited county executive Wayne Curry. He targeted women voters and enjoyed a boost in momentum after The Washington Post endorsed his campaign during the Democratic primary, but continued to trail county state's attorney Jack B. Johnson in polling up to election day. Baker was defeated in the Democratic primary by Johnson on September 10, 2002, placing second-to-last with 12.5 percent of the vote.

2006

In June 2005, Baker announced that he was forming an exploratory committee to run for Prince George's County Executive in 2006, challenging incumbent county executive Jack B. Johnson. He declared his candidacy in January 2006, and ran a campaign criticizing Johnson's handling of crime and education in Prince George's County. Baker was narrowly defeated in the Democratic primary in September 2006, receiving 47.5 percent of the vote to Johnson's 52.5 percent. He won the Democratic primary in September 2010, defeating Prince George's County Sheriff Michael A. Jackson, who was backed by Johnson, and state delegate Gerron Levi with 43.9 percent of the vote.

2014

Baker filed to run for re-election as county executive in February 2014. He ran unopposed in both the primary and general elections.

Tenure

Baker was sworn in as Prince George's County Executive on December 6, 2010. He unsuccessfully sought to raise property taxes in Prince George's County to pay for education reforms and supported a failed referendum that would have increased the number of terms that county-elected officials could serve from two to three. and was the subject of a state probe that found that the grades of nearly 5,500 students were altered between 2015 and 2017, which prompted the Maryland State Board of Education to assign a monitor to prevent future grade manipulation. After Maxwell's tenure became an issue during the 2018 Democratic gubernatorial primary, Baker defended Maxwell by highlighting that the school system added nearly 9,000 students under his tenure and expanded specialty programs, including language immersion, full-day prekindergarten, and dual enrollment.

Gubernatorial campaigns 2018

On June 21, 2017, Baker announced that he would run for governor of Maryland in 2018, challenging incumbent Republican Governor Larry Hogan.

During the Democratic primary, Baker touted his accomplishments toward the economy and crime as county executive, and supported proposals to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, increase funding for state community colleges, accelerate the state's clean energy transition, and revive the Red Line. He received endorsements from U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen, U.S. Representative Steny Hoyer, Attorney General Brian Frosh, Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett, and former governors Parris Glendening and Martin O'Malley. He also received financial support from businessman David Trone, who was running for Congress in Maryland's 6th congressional district.

Baker was defeated by former NAACP president Ben Jealous in the Democratic primary election on June 26, 2018, placing second with 29.3 percent of the vote. The Washington Post blamed his loss on Baker's failure to aggressively tout his accomplishments as county executive, lackluster fundraising skills, and his past conflicts with county unions and activists. Following his defeat, Baker campaigned for Jealous in the general election, in which Jealous was defeated by Hogan.

2022

On April 8, 2021, Baker that he would again run for governor of Maryland in 2022, seeking to succeed term-limited Governor Larry Hogan. His running mate was Nancy Navarro, a member of the Montgomery County Council from 2009 to 2022. During the Democratic primary, Baker unveiled a crime and policing plan that included proposals to increase police hiring, address vacant housing in Baltimore, and provide jobs and education to squeegee boys. He also criticized the leaked draft majority opinion for the U.S. Supreme Court case Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization.

Initially viewed as one of the frontrunners in the race alongside Comptroller Peter Franchot, Baker fell behind in polls and fundraising; by June 2022, his campaign reported having less than $100,000 cash on hand and placing a distant fourth in polls of the Democratic primary. Furthermore, many of the high-profile elected officials who backed Baker's 2018 campaign had endorsed other candidates. He suspended his campaign on June 10, 2022.

Post-county executive career Since leaving office, Baker has run his own consulting firm, Baker Strategy Group. In July 2019, Senate President Thomas V. Miller Jr. appointed Baker to the University of Maryland Medical System board. During his tenure, Baker worked with the University of Maryland, College Park to establish the Elected Executive Leadership Program. He left the board 2021. He officially entered the race on December 10, 2024. He was defeated by state's attorney Aisha Braveboy in the Democratic primary, placing second with 19.3% of the vote. Baker served on Braveboy's county executive transition team after she defeated Republican nominee Jonathan White in the general election in June 2025.

In February 2026, Baker announced that he would run for Congress in Maryland's 5th congressional district, seeking to succeed Steny Hoyer, who is retiring. During his campaign, Baker pledged to support proposals to strengthen health care and medical research, support caregivers and veterans, and lower consumer costs. In June 2026, Baker joined fellow candidates Quincy Bareebe and Harry Dunn to criticize state delegate Adrian Boafo after AIPAC's United Democracy Project super PAC and pro-cryptocurrency super PAC Protect Progress spent nearly $8 million in independent expenditures boosting Boafo's campaign. Baker was defeated by Boafo in the Democratic primary election on June 23, 2026, placing fifth with 10.5 percent of the vote.

Personal life Baker met his wife, Christa Beverly, as an undergraduate at Howard University in 1978. Baker is a member of Gamma Pi chapter of Omega Psi Phi fraternity. The Bakers lived in Washington, D.C., briefly, before settling in Cheverly, Maryland, where they raised three children, including son Rushern Baker IV. Rushern IV briefly served as Baker's campaign manager during the final weeks of his 2022 gubernatorial campaign.

In 2010, Baker's wife, Christa, was diagnosed with Early-onset Alzheimer's disease. The family decided to speak publicly about her diagnosis in 2012 in order to increase awareness for the disease and advocate for greater funding for medical research. Baker is an active member of the Alzheimer's Association. In 2016, Baker got a tattoo of her initials and the logo for the Alzheimer's Association on his arm. Christa died due to Alzheimer's disease on September 18, 2021.

In March 2024, Baker received the Thomas Kennedy Award from the Maryland House of Delegates.

Electoral history