22 Facts About Jazz Lewis

Jazz M Lewis was born on February 26,1989 and is an American politician and Democratic member of the Maryland House of Delegates.

Jazz Lewis graduated from Charles Herbert Flowers High School and later attended the University of Maryland, College Park, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science in 2011 and a Master of Public Policy degree in acquisition management and international development in 2014.

Jazz Lewis first entered politics as a campus organizer, organizing students in a protest against a proposed tuition increase.

Jazz Lewis worked for US Representative Steny Hoyer, first as a field director before becoming an executive director in July 2015.

Jazz Lewis was appointed to the Maryland House of Delegates by Governor Larry Hogan on February 10,2017, and was sworn in on the same day.

Jazz Lewis was elected for a full term in 2018, and re-elected in 2022.

From 2019 until October 2021, Jazz Lewis worked as a senior policy advisor to House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer.

Jazz Lewis was an at-large delegate to the 2024 Democratic National Convention, pledged to Kamala Harris.

In October 2021, Jazz Lewis announced his candidacy for Maryland's 4th congressional district, seeking to succeed outgoing Representative Anthony Brown, who was a candidate for Attorney General.

Jazz Lewis withdrew his candidacy on April 14,2022, saying that he would seek another term in the House of Delegates in lieu of a congressional bid.

Jazz Lewis has described himself as "unabashedly a progressive" who is a "consensus-maker".

Jazz Lewis reintroduced the bill during the 2019 and 2020 legislative sessions.

In 2019, Jazz Lewis said he opposed a controversial bill that would allow Johns Hopkins University to employ its own private police force.

Also in 2019, Jazz Lewis introduced a bill that would require the Department of Legislative Services to prepare racial impact statements on bills creating or modifying misdemeanor and felony offenses.

Jazz Lewis later worked with legislative leaders Adrienne A Jones and Bill Ferguson to initiate a pilot program requiring racial impact statements on criminal justice bills in 2021.

In June 2020, Jazz Lewis pledged to stop taking campaign contributions from the Fraternal Order of Police.

In July 2020, Jazz Lewis was appointed to represent the Maryland House of Delegates on the Law Enforcement Body Camera Task Force, a committee tasked with helping jurisdictions utilize police body cameras.

Jazz Lewis later encouraged progressive members of the US House of Representatives who are critical of Israel to visit the country.

In November 2021, Jazz Lewis called Israel "one of our core friends" and said that he supported increasing US foreign aid to Israel.

Jazz Lewis supported 2022 Maryland Question 4, a ballot referendum to legalize recreational marijuana in Maryland, voting to pass legislation creating the referendum during the 2022 legislative session and later encouraging his constituents to vote for legalization in October 2022.

Jazz Lewis had previously sponsored legislation to legalize cannabis during the 2021 legislative session, which failed to move out of committee.

In 2019, Jazz Lewis voted to advance a bill that would lift a ban on candidates running in Prince George's County county-level political races from accepting developer contributions.