Victor R. Ramirez

Maryland General Assembly

Ramirez was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates in 2002, becoming the first Latino elected to the Maryland General Assembly.^[4][5] He was sworn into the Maryland House of Delegates on January 8, 2003. He was a member of the Ways and Means Committee from 2003 to 2006, afterwards serving on the Judiciary Committee until 2011. From 2007 to 2011, Ramirez served as a deputy majority whip.^[1] During the 2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries, he ran to be a delegate at the 2008 Democratic National Convention, pledged to U.S. Senator John Edwards.^[6]

Ramirez was elected to the Maryland Senate in 2010 after defeating incumbent state senator David C. Harrington in that year's Democratic primary.^[7][8] was sworn into the Maryland Senate on January 12, 2011. He was a member of the Judicial Proceedings from 2011 to 2012, afterwards serving on the Finance Committee until 2015, when he returned to the Judicial Proceedings Committee.^[1] He was also a delegate to the 2012 Democratic National Convention, pledged to President Barack Obama.^[1] In February 2015, Ramirez joined state delegates David Fraser-Hidalgo, Joseline Peña-Melnyk, Maricé Morales, Will Campos, and Ana Sol Gutierrez in organizing the Maryland Latino Legislative Caucus, becoming one of the caucus' first six members.^[9][10][11]

On August 20, 2017, Ramirez announced that he would not run for re-election in 2018, opting instead to run for Prince George's County state's attorney.^[12] During his campaign, Ramirez supported decreasing arrests for low-level crimes, such as petty theft and marijuana possession, and create more county diversion programs. He received endorsements from former Prince George's County state's attorney Glenn Ivey, U.S. Representative Jamie Raskin, and Service Employees International Union 32BJ.^[13][14] Ramirez lost to former state delegate Aisha Braveboy in the Democratic primary, placing second with 27% of the vote.^[15]

Post-legislative career

In 2016, Ramirez became Northwestern High School's soccer coach.^[3] He was named coach of the year by The Washington Post in 2021,^[16] after leading his alma matter to the school's third state championship win over Northwest High School.^[3] During its 2022 season, the team entered the postseason as the undefeated champion of Prince George's County, but was eliminated in the semifinals after it was discovered that the team was using an ineligible player. Ramirez said that he and his coaching staff were unaware of the ineligibility and wished that the whistleblower who reported his team had approached him directly so that he could've reported it to officials directly instead of having their team eliminated.^[17]

In January 2020, Ramirez filed to run to be a delegate at the 2020 Democratic National Convention, pledged to U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren.^[18]

In March 2021, Ramirez announced that he would run for the Prince George's County Council in 2022, seeking to succeed Deni Taveras, who was term-limited.^[19] He narrowly lost to state delegate Wanika B. Fisher in the Democratic primary, placing second with 44.8% of the vote.^[20]

Ramirez is a candidate for the Prince George's County Council in 2026, seeking to succeed Fisher, who is running for Prince George's County state's attorney.^[21]

Crime and policing

During the 2013 legislative session, Ramirez supported repealing the death penalty in Maryland, citing statistics showing that Maryland has been more likely to impose the death penalty in cases involving Black assailants and white victms.^[22]

Education

During his tenure in the Maryland House of Delegates, Ramirez repeatedly introduced legislation to extend in-state tuition to undocumented students. The bill passed in 2003, when it was vetoed by Governor Bob Ehrlich, and again in 2011, when it was signed into law by Governor Martin O'Malley.^[23] After the legislation was petitioned to a statewide referendum by state delegate Neil Parrott, Ramirez held rallies in support of the legislation.^[24]

Gun control

During the 2018 legislative session and following the 2017 Las Vegas shooting, Ramirez introduced legislation to ban bump stocks in Maryland.^[25]

Immigration

Ramirez support issuing driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants.^[26] During the 2013 legislative session, he introduced the Maryland Highway Safety Act, which passed and was signed into law by Governor O'Malley.^[27]

During the 2017 legislative session, Ramirez introduced the Trust Act, which would prohibit police and sheriff's departments from complying with federal requests to hold undocumented immigrants.^[28]

Social issues

In May 2005, Ramirez and state delegate Ana Sol Gutierrez called on Governor Ehrlich to rescind the appointment of William G. Duvall Jr. as head of a panel responsible for interviewing judicial candidates on the lower Eastern Shore of Maryland, citing his use of an ethnic slur to describe undocumented immigrants. Ehrlich withdrew Duvall's appointment and condemned his use of the slur.^[29]

During the 2006 legislative session, Ramirez introduced a bill that would require Maryland to set aside at least $7 million in the state's Medicaid budget to cover low-income pregnant women and children who are legal immigrants but do not qualify for federal money.^[30]

During the 2011 legislative session, Ramirez supported the Civil Marriage Protection Act, which would legalize same-sex marriage in Maryland.^[31]

In 2015, Ramirez was appointed as the Senate chair of the Death with Dignity Work Group.^[1] During the 2015 legislative session, he expressed concerns with the Death With Dignity Act, a bill that would allow terminally ill adults in Maryland to take their own lives, citing testimony from the bill's opponents who argued that poor people and people with disabilities could opt to end their lives early because of the costs associated with their treatments.^[32]