Kweisi Mfume is an American politician who is the US representative for Maryland's 7th congressional district, first serving from 1987 to 1996 and again since 2020.
24 Facts About Kweisi Mfume
2.
Kweisi Mfume returned to his former House seat in 2020 after it was left vacant by the death of Elijah Cummings.
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Kweisi Mfume was born as Frizzell Gerald Gray in Baltimore, Maryland, on October 24,1948, the eldest of four.
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Kweisi Mfume began hanging around on street corners, which included being in the company of gang members.
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Kweisi Mfume changed his name to Kweisi Mfume in the early 1970s.
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Kweisi Mfume fathered five children with several different women during his teenage years.
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In 1978, Kweisi Mfume was elected to the Baltimore City Council, where he opposed mayor William Donald Schaefer, whom he accused of ignoring the city's poor neighborhoods.
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Kweisi Mfume was elected to the US House of Representatives in 1986.
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In November 1986, Kweisi Mfume was elected to represent, succeeding fellow Democrat Parren Mitchell.
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Kweisi Mfume made himself known as a Democrat with an apparent balance between progressive ideologies and a capacity for practical compromise, representing a district that included both West Baltimore and suburban and rural communities, though his primary goal was an increase in federal aid to American inner cities.
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In February 1996, Kweisi Mfume left the House to accept the presidency of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, saying that he could do more to improve American civil rights there than in Congress.
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Kweisi Mfume reformed the NAACP's finances to pay off its considerable debt while pursuing the cause of civil rights advancement for African Americans.
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Kweisi Mfume acknowledged dating an NAACP employee, and in May 2005 apologized for having had the affair while leading the organization.
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On March 14,2005, Kweisi Mfume announced that he would seek the US Senate seat of incumbent Paul Sarbanes, following Sarbanes's announcement that he would not seek reelection in 2006.
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Kweisi Mfume lost the Democratic primary for this seat on September 12,2006, to US Representative Ben Cardin.
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In March 2010, Kweisi Mfume was named chief executive officer of the National Medical Association.
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In May 2013, Kweisi Mfume was named chair of the board of regents of his alma mater, Morgan State University.
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Kweisi Mfume assumed the position on July 1,2013, succeeding the interim chair Martin Resnick.
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From 2013 to 2018, Kweisi Mfume was the principal investigator for the Health Policy Research Consortium.
20.
On November 4,2019, Kweisi Mfume announced his candidacy for the special election for his old congressional seat to fill the vacancy created by the October death of his successor, Elijah Cummings.
21.
On February 4,2020, Kweisi Mfume won the Democratic nomination, defeating Maya Rockeymoore Cummings, Elijah Cummings's widow.
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Kweisi Mfume defeated Republican nominee Kimberly Klacik in the general election on April 28,2020 and was sworn in on May 5.
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Kweisi Mfume ran for a full term in the November 2020 race and won, defeating Klacik in a rematch.
24.
Kweisi Mfume is a member of the Prince Hall Freemasons and Omega Psi Phi fraternity.