Gov. Martin O’Malley

Martin O’Malley was sworn in as governor of Maryland on January 16, 2007.

O’Malley was born in Washington, D.C, and grew up in Bethesda and Rockville, Maryland, the eldest son in a family of six children. O’Malley attended Gonzaga College High School in Washington, D.C. He participated in the renowned Eagle program, serving in tutoring programs and other efforts to provide assistance for the residents in the impoverished neighborhood surrounding the school.

O’Malley received his bachelor’s degree from Catholic University and a law degree from the University of Maryland. In 1986, while in law school, he was named by then-Congresswoman Barbara Mikulski as state field director for her successful primary and general election campaigns for the U.S. Senate. From 1987 to 1988 he served as a legislative fellow for Senator Mikulski, where he focused on obtaining federal funding for projects in Maryland. In 1988, O’Malley was appointed assistant state’s attorney for the city of Baltimore. He served on the Baltimore City Council from 1991 to 1999, during which time he was chairman of the Legislative Investigations and Taxation and Finance Committees.

In 1999, O’Malley was elected mayor of Baltimore. During his seven years as mayor, O’Malley worked with the city’s citizens and public servants to make it a more beautiful, cleaner city where people want to live and businesses want to invest.

As governor, O’Malley’s policies helped build the public school system, drive violent crime down to a 35 year low and create jobs for Maryland families. In his second term, O’Malley continued to rely on the tenets of transparency, accountability and progress-driven results to make state government work again for the people.

O’Malley and his wife Katie, a District Court judge, have two daughters, Grace and Tara, and two sons, William and Jack. They are members of St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church.