Kent A. Roberson is an American politician who is currently a member of the

Maryland House of Delegates The Maryland House of Delegates is the lower house of the Maryland General Assembly, legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland. It consists of 141 delegates elected from 47 districts. The House of Delegates Chamber is in the Maryland State House ...

from

District 25 A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

Background

Roberson was born in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

. He graduated from Frederick Douglass High School and later attended

Ball State University Ball State University (Ball State or BSU) is a public research university in Muncie, Indiana, United States. The university has three off-campus centers in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, and Fishers, Indiana. The university is composed of seven aca ...

, earning a bachelor's and master's degree in political science in 2002 and 2007, and the

Wesley Theological Seminary Wesley Theological Seminary is a United Methodist Church seminary in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1882. History Wesley Theological Seminary can trace its roots back to the 1881 meeting of the Methodist Protestant Church's Maryland Ann ...

, where he earned a

Master of Divinity For graduate-level theological institutions, the Master of Divinity (MDiv, ''magister divinitatis'' in Latin) is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America. It is the most common academic degree in seminaries and ...

degree in 2003. Roberson first got involved in politics during high school in 2002, working as a student page for the Maryland House of Delegates. In 2013, he started work in the

Maryland General Assembly The Maryland General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland that convenes within the State House in Annapolis. It is a bicameral body: the upper chamber, the Maryland Senate, has 47 representatives, and the lower ...

mailroom. After graduating, Roberson worked as an intern for

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

Albert Wynn Albert Russell Wynn (born September 10, 1951) is an American lobbyist and former politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing the 4th district of Maryland from 1993 to 2008. On February 13, 2008 ...

, later serving as a senior government relations manager for the

Corn Refiners Association The Corn Refiners Association (CRA) is a trade association based in Washington, D.C. It represents the corn refining industry in the United States. Corn refining encompasses the production of corn starch, corn oil, and high-fructose corn syrup (HFC ...

and the vice president of the Prince George's County Parent Teacher Student Association. In 2021, Roberson was appointed as the African-American Diversity Leadership chair for the state of Maryland. In 2018, Roberson was elected to the Prince George's County Democratic Central Committee for District 25. He was re-elected to a second term after running unopposed in 2022, subsequently becoming the committee's chair. Also in 2018, Roberson unsuccessfully ran for the

in District 25, placing fifth with 6.4 percent of the vote. In 2022, Roberson unsuccessfully ran for the Prince George's County Board of Education, losing to small business owner Lolita Walker. 2020 Electoral College Meeting - 50720179267

2020 Electoral College Meeting - 50720179267

During the 2020 presidential primaries, Roberson unsuccessfully ran for national delegate to the

Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 18 ...

, pledged to

Elizabeth Warren Elizabeth Ann Warren (née Herring; born June 22, 1949) is an American politician and former law professor who is the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States senator from the state of Massachusetts, serving since 2013. A mem ...

. He later served as an elector for

Maryland's 5th congressional district Maryland's 5th congressional district comprises all of Charles, St. Mary's, and Calvert counties (a region known as Southern Maryland), as well as portions of Prince George's and Anne Arundel counties. The district is currently represented ...

in the

2020 United States presidential election United States presidential election, Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 3, 2020. The Democratic Party (United States), Democratic ticket of former vice president Joe Biden and California junior senator Kamala H ...

In the legislature

In April 2023, Roberson applied to fill a vacancy left by the resignation of state delegate

Darryl Barnes Darryl Lamont Barnes (born April 21, 1965) is an American politician who was previously a member of the Maryland House of Delegates from 2015 to 2023. Barnes has represented Maryland's 25th District since 2015. He also served as Deputy Majority ...

. He was unanimously nominated by fellow members of the Prince George's County Democratic Central Committee on May 5, 2023. Roberson was sworn into office on May 30, 2023.

Personal life

Roberson is married to his wife, Jamii. Together, they have three children. Roberson is a social justice minister at the Ebenezer African Methodist Episcopal Church in

Fort Washington, Maryland Fort Washington is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. It borders the Potomac River, situated 20 miles south of downtown Washington, D.C. As of the 2020 census, it had a popul ...

Electoral history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberson, Kent Living people 2020 United States presidential electors 21st-century African-American politicians 21st-century American Methodist ministers African-American state legislators in Maryland African-American Methodists Ball State University alumni Democratic Party members of the Maryland House of Delegates Methodists from Maryland Politicians from Memphis, Tennessee Wesley Theological Seminary alumni Politicians from Prince George's County, Maryland 21st-century members of the Maryland General Assembly