By AFRO Staff
On April 27, Del. Adrienne Jones was prepared to concede her bid to become the first woman, and first Black person to be elected Speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates. In her address nearly 500 attendees at the AFRO’s 3rd Annual High Tea this past weekend, Jones said, “I guess it wasn’t my time.”
Following her remarks, AFRO Publisher and CEO Frances “Murphy” Draper took to the podium and declared, “Yes, it is your time.”
House Speaker Adrienne Jones smiles after being elected the first woman and first black lawmaker to win the office during a special session on Wednesday, May 1, 2019 in Annapolis, Maryland. (AP Photo/Brian Witte)
Still it seemed like after an alleged controversial gaff by Derrick Davis of Prince George’s County, who had been the choice of Maryland’s Black Caucus, the nod for Speaker would go to Del. Maggie McIntosh of Baltimore City.
However, the contest for Speaker in the wake of the death of longtime Speaker Michael Bush, who died last month, was marked with back room machinations to the very end. Ultimately, when the votes were counted on May 1, it was Jones, who had been Speaker Pro Tem, who emerged with 138 (endorsed by the entire Maryland Democratic delegation) votes to become the state’s first woman and first Black to become Speaker of the House of Delegates.
The AFRO, who endorsed Jones from the beginning of the process, was the only major news organization in the region to do so.