Elizabeth Embry
Elizabeth M. Embry is an American politician who is a member of the Maryland House of Delegates for Maryland [House of Delegates District 43A|District 43A] in Baltimore. In 2018, she was a candidate for Lieutenant Governor of Maryland, running on the ticket of Prince George's County executive Rushern Baker. In 2016, she was a candidate for 2016 [Baltimore mayoral election|mayor of Baltimore].
Background
Embry was born to father Robert C. Embry Jr., the president of the Abell Foundation, and mother Mary Ann E. Mears, a sculptor and arts advocate. She attended Baltimore City College, Yale University, and Columbia Law School.In 2011, Baltimore State's Attorney Gregg L. Bernstein named Embry as the new deputy prosecutor.
In January 2015, Embry became the chief of the Maryland Attorney General's criminal division. She was on leave from this job during her 2016 mayoral campaign, and resigned from it in February 2018 to focus on her gubernatorial campaign. In February 2019, Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh rehired Embry to lead a probe of sex abuse in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore. In September 2018, Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori confirmed the archdiocese was under investigation by the state and that it had given the attorney general more than 50,000 pages of internal documents dating back to 1965. On November 17, 2022, the Office of the Attorney General concluded its investigation, releasing a 456-page report identifying 600 victims of sexual abuse and accusing 158 Catholic priests, including 43 that were previously never publicly identified by the Archdiocese, of sexual abuse.
2016 Baltimore mayoral candidacy
Embry announced her candidacy for mayor of Baltimore on November 6, 2015, becoming the 11th candidate to join the race in the Democratic primary. Her platform included increasing funding for schools and extracurricular activities, criminal justice reform, and improving city transportation. During the primary, she was endorsed by former Maryland Attorney General Stephen H. Sachs.Embry was defeated by state senator Catherine Pugh in the Democratic primary, placing third behind Pugh and former Baltimore mayor Sheila Dixon with 11.7 percent of the vote.
2018 Maryland lieutenant governor candidacy
In January 2018, rumors arose that Embry was on Prince George's County executive Rushern Baker's shortlist for potential running mates. On February 20, 2018, Baker announced that Embry would be his running mate in the 2018 Maryland gubernatorial election. Embry said she was "a bit shocked" to be asked by Baker to join his ticket, as the two had only spoken briefly a few times before. However, Baker had said that he decided on Embry "ive minutes into the conversation". Baker and Embry were defeated by former NAACP president Ben Jealous in the Democratic primary election, placing second with 29.3 percent of the vote.In the legislature
On January 21, 2022, Embry announced that she would run for the Maryland House of Delegates in District 43, seeking to succeed retiring state delegate Maggie McIntosh. During the primary, she was endorsed by state delegates Regina T. Boyce and Maggie McIntosh. Embry won the Democratic primary election on July 19, 2022, placing second behind Boyce with 29.1 percent of the vote, and later won the general election in November with 44.59 percent of the vote.Embry was sworn into the Maryland House of Delegates on January 11, 2023. She is a member of the House Judiciary Committee.