Douglas J. J. Peters (December 28, 1963 – December 30, 2023) was an American politician from

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

and a member of the Democratic Party. He served in the

Maryland State Senate The Maryland Senate, sometimes referred to as the Maryland State Senate, is the upper house of the General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland. Composed of 47 senators elected from an equal number of constituent single ...

representing the 23rd district in

Prince George's County Prince George's County (often shortened to PG County or PG) is located in the U.S. state of Maryland bordering the eastern portion of Washington, D.C. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 967,201, making it the second-most populous ...

from January 10, 2007 to July 31, 2021. In June 2021, Peters announced he wouldn't seek re-election in 2022; in July 2021, he was appointed to the unpaid

University System of Maryland The University System of Maryland (USM) is a public university system in the U.S. state of Maryland. The system is composed of the eleven campuses at College Park, Baltimore County, Baltimore, Princess Anne, Towson, Salisbury, Bowie, Frost ...

's Board of Regents and announced he would resign from the senate.

Background

Peters grew up in Silver Spring, MD and graduated from Springbrook High School where he was a member of the two-time Maryland AA State Championship Football teams in 1979 and 1980. Peters earned a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

in finance from the

University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD i ...

and a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular ...

from the

University of Baltimore The University of Baltimore (UBalt, UB) is a public university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It is part of the University System of Maryland. UBalt consists of four colleges in applied arts and sciences, Robert G. Merrick School of Bu ...

. He became President and Chief Executive Officer of The Peters Group, and through his business became involved with the Prince George's County Chamber of Commerce, Prince George's County Board of Trade and the Greater Washington Board of Trade. Peters was also a Captain in the

United States Army Reserve The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a Military reserve force, reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed ...

, and earned a

Bronze Star Medal The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious a ...

during

Operation Desert Storm Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

. In 1998, Peters successfully ran for a seat on the city council of

Bowie, Maryland Bowie () is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. Per the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 58,329. Bowie has grown from a small railroad stop to the largest municipality in Prince George's County; i ...

, and four years later won a seat on the Prince George's county council.

In the legislature

Peters was elected to the State Senate in 2006 and took office in 2007. He sat on the Budget and Tax Committee and co-chaired the Veteran's Caucus. Other committees and subcommittees: * Capital Budget Subcommittee (Member 2008–2021, Vice-Chair 2011–2021) * Education, Business and Administration Subcommittee (2007) * Health, Education and Human Resources Subcommittee (2008–10) * Health and Human Services Subcommittee (2011–2021)
Special Committee on Substance Abuse
(2007–2021)

(2008–2021)

(2011–2021)

(Member 2009–2021; Chair 2011–2021) * Prince George's County Delegation (Vice-Chair 2008–09; Chair 2009–2021) * Maryland Doctor's Caucus (Member 2010–2021) * Southern Legislative Conference (fiscal affairs & government operations committee (Member 2008–2021)

Personal life and death

Peters was married and had six children. He was a member of the

Sons of the American Revolution The Sons of the American Revolution (SAR), formally the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (NSSAR), is a federally chartered patriotic organization. The National Society, a nonprofit corporation headquartered in Louisvi ...

. He was a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. On December 30, 2023, two days after his 60th birthday, Peters died from complications of

multiple myeloma Multiple myeloma (MM), also known as plasma cell myeloma and simply myeloma, is a cancer of plasma cells, a type of white blood cell that normally produces antibody, antibodies. Often, no symptoms are noticed initially. As it progresses, bone ...

References

1963 births 2023 deaths Democratic Party Maryland state senators United States Army officers University of Baltimore alumni University of Maryland, College Park alumni Politicians from Prince George's County, Maryland University System of Maryland people Deaths from multiple myeloma in the United States County commissioners in Maryland Maryland city council members Catholic politicians from Maryland United States Army personnel of the Gulf War Deaths from cancer in Maryland Members of the Sons of the American Revolution 21st-century members of the Maryland General Assembly {{Maryland-politician-stub