33 Facts About Sheila Dixon

Sheila Ann Dixon was born on December 27,1953 and is an American politician who served as the 48th mayor of Baltimore, Maryland, after mayor Martin O'Malley was sworn in as governor on January 17,2007.

On January 9,2009, Dixon was indicted by then State prosecutor Robert A Rohrbaugh, on twelve felony and misdemeanor counts, including perjury, theft, and misconduct.

Sheila Dixon was succeeded by then City Council president, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake.

Sheila Dixon has remained active in the Baltimore community and sought reelection for mayor in 2016.

Sheila Dixon was defeated in the Democratic Primary by then State Senator Catherine Pugh, who received 2,408 more votes than Dixon.

Sheila Dixon challenged Pugh as a write-in candidate in the general election, but lost with 51,716 votes.

Sheila Dixon was born and was raised in the Ashburton neighborhood of West Baltimore.

Sheila Dixon attended the Baltimore City public schools and graduated from Northwestern High School.

Sheila Dixon earned a bachelor's degree from Towson University and a master's degree from Johns Hopkins University.

Sheila Dixon then worked for 17 years as an international trade specialist with the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development.

In 1986, Sheila Dixon was elected to the Baltimore City Democratic State Central Committee representing the 40th Legislative District.

In 1999, Sheila Dixon was elected president of the Baltimore City Council, the first African-American woman elected to this position.

In 2007, Sheila Dixon introduced a crime plan that focused on more community policing and using police resources to target the most violent offenders.

Sheila Dixon ran for a full term as mayor in the 2007 election and won the Democratic Party primary in September.

State Delegates Tom Hucker, Maggie McIntosh, Curt Anderson, Cheryl Glenn, Melvin L Stukes, Talmadge Branch, Senators Nathaniel J McFadden and Catherine Pugh and Baltimore City Council members Robert Curran, Bernard "Jack" Young, Ed Reisinger, Stephanie Rawlings Blake and Agnes Welch endorsed Dixon and were at the rally as well.

Sheila Dixon won the 2007 Baltimore Democratic Mayoral Primary over her closest opponent, Keiffer Mitchell Jr.

The affidavit filed to support a search warrant on the company Doracon was published by The Baltimore Sun in June 2008; the affidavit stated that Sheila Dixon was being investigated for bribery.

On January 9,2009, Sheila Dixon was indicted by a Baltimore grand jury on twelve counts: four counts of perjury, two counts of misconduct, three counts of theft, and three counts of fraudulent misappropriations.

Sheila Dixon was found not guilty of the two felony-theft charges, as well as not guilty of the one count of misconduct of office.

Sheila Dixon was found guilty on one misdemeanor embezzlement charge relating to her use of over $600 worth of retail-store gift cards that were intended to be distributed to needy families.

On January 6,2010, as part of a plea agreement reached with prosecutors, Sheila Dixon announced that she was resigning as mayor, effective February 4,2010.

Under the terms of the agreement, Sheila Dixon received probation before judgment in the recent case in which she had been found guilty, as well as in a perjury trial that had been scheduled for March 2010.

Sheila Dixon was sentenced to four years of probation under the terms of the agreement.

Sheila Dixon was required to donate $45,000 to the Bea Gaddy Foundation and to serve 500 hours of community service at Our Daily Bread.

Sheila Dixon agreed to not seek office anywhere in the state of Maryland, including Baltimore, during her probationary term and that she will not solicit or accept taxpayer money to pay her defense fees.

In 2015, Sheila Dixon made a second attempt at becoming mayor of Baltimore.

Sheila Dixon was the front-runner in the Democratic primary until early 2016, when Congressman Elijah Cummings endorsed her leading opponent, Catherine Pugh in April 2016.

On December 14,2019, Sheila Dixon announced she was running for mayor of Baltimore in the 2020 election.

In September 2023, Sheila Dixon announced that she would again run for mayor of Baltimore, setting up a rematch of the 2020 Democratic primary contest between Sheila Dixon and the now-incumbent mayor Brandon Scott.

Twice divorced, Sheila Dixon raised her two children, Jasmine and Joshua, as a single mom.

Sheila Dixon is the aunt of professional basketball player Juan Dixon, who led the University of Maryland to the 2002 NCAA championship, and Jermaine Dixon, who played guard for the University of Pittsburgh men's basketball team.

Church and former church trustee, Sheila Dixon continues to serve as a member of the Stewardess Board.

Sheila Dixon serves on other boards, including the Institute of Human Virology, the Transplant Resource Center, the Urban Health Initiative, the Baltimore Public Markets Corporation, the Living Classrooms Foundation, and the Walters Art Museum.