Joanne C. Benson

Benson was born on March 11, 1941, in Roanoke, Virginia. She attended South Hagerstown High School and then graduated from Bowie State College with a Bachelor of Science in education in 1961. She later attended The Catholic University of America where she earned her Master of Arts in curriculum instruction in 1972.^[1]

Benson was a member of House of Delegates from 1991 to 2011. She served on the House Health and Government Operations Committee and its health occupations subcommittee, long-term care subcommittee, and its minority health disparities subcommittee.^[1] She is also a member and former chair of the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland.^[2] She still presides at the Caucus meetings, providing an inspirational prayer as the Caucus' chaplain.^[3]

In 2010 she defeated incumbent state senator Nathaniel Exum^[4] and was sworn into office in January 2011. In 2020 she was selected to be the Senate's Deputy Majority leader and has been chairman of the Senate Rules committee since 2019.^[1]

In 2019, Benson worked with Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper to commute the sentence of Curtis Brooks, who had been sentenced as a juvenile to life in prison without parole.^[5][6]

Benson did not run for re-election in 2026, after missing much of the 2026 legislative session.^[7] In an interview with NBC Washington, Benson blamed her absence on health challenges, including a surgery that required extended recovery time, but said that she hoped to be back before the General Assembly adjourned sine die. She declined to step down so that someone else could serve in her place for the remainder of the legislative session, expressing concerns that the Prince George's County Democratic Central Committee would appoint one of the candidates running in the Democratic primary election to succeed her.^[8] Benson returned to the Maryland General Assembly on March 30, 2026, for the final two weeks of the 90 day session.^[9]

During the 2019 legislative session, Benson introduced legislation to ban the manufacture or sale of privately made firearms.^[10]

In 2022, Benson voted against legislation to legalize recreational marijuana in Maryland.^[11] She also voted against a bill to place a referendum legalizing recreational marijuana on the 2022 ballot.^[12]

In 2019, Benson voted in favor of legislation to raise the state's minimum wage to $15 an hour, but expressed disappointment with the date's effective date of 2025.^[13]

In February 2026, Benson said she supported pursuing mid-decade redistricting in Maryland and supported holding a vote on a bill that would redraw Maryland's congressional districts to improve the Democratic Party's chances of winning the 1st congressional district, the only congressional district held by Republicans in the state.^[14]

In 1991, Benson voted in favor of legislation to protect the right to abortion in Maryland.^[15]

Benson opposed the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act, a bill introduced in 2011 to legalize same-sex marriage in Maryland, saying that she did not view gay marriage as a civil rights issue.^[16] Although she was absent for the vote on the bill, she said she would have voted against it.^[17] In 2012, she voted against the Civil Marriage Protection Act.^[18]

In 2022, Benson supported legislation to provide paid family leave to all Maryland workers, saying that paid family leave "should not be viewed as a privilege, but as something that is humane and just".^[19]

In 2013, Benson voted in favor of legislation to raise fuel taxes in Maryland.^[20]

During the 2021 legislative session, Benson introduced legislation to hold the Maryland Department of Transportation to promises it made for the widening of Capital Beltway and Interstate 270 and modernizing the American Legion Memorial Bridge.^[21] The bill passed the House of Delegates by a vote of 101–35 in March,^[22] but did not receive a vote in the Senate.^[23]

Benson is a congregant at the First Baptist Church of Glenarden.^[1]