Glenn Frederick Ivey (born February 27, 1961) is an American politician and attorney serving as the U.S. representative for Maryland's 4th congressional district since 2023. The district covers most of the black-majority areas on the Maryland side of the Washington metropolitan area.
A partner at the law firm of Ivey & Levetown, he served as the state's attorney for Prince George's County, Maryland, from 2002 to 2011. Ivey won the 2022 Democratic primary for the 4th congressional district over Donna Edwards, who previously represented the district for four terms, and then defeated the Republican nominee. According to the Cook Partisan Voting Index, his district is tied with California's 12th for the second most Democratic in the country, with an index rating of D+39.
Ivey served on Capitol Hill as chief counsel to Senate majority leader Tom Daschle, as counsel to U.S. senator Paul Sarbanes during the Whitewater controversy, as chief majority counsel to the Senate Banking Committee, and on the staff of U.S. representative John Conyers. He also worked for U.S. attorney Eric Holder as an assistant U.S. attorney and as chair of the Maryland Public Service Commission. He was twice elected state's attorney for Prince George's County, Maryland.
Early life and education
Ivey was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts, but grew up in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, where much of his extended family lived and his mother worked as the first Black teacher at an all-white school. His immediate family later moved to Dale City, Virginia, after his father got a job with the United States Department of Labor. Ivey graduated with honors from Princeton University, where he earned an A.B. degree in politics in 1983. In 1986, he received a J.D. degree from Harvard Law School.
Career After graduating from Harvard Law School in 1986, Ivey worked for the Baltimore law firm of Gordon-Feinblatt. From 1987 to 1988, he worked on Capitol Hill as an aide to U.S. representative John Conyers, after which he returned to law, working for Preston, Gates, Ellis & Rouvelas.
In 1989, the United States Department of Justice hired Ivey as an assistant U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C. He worked for U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Eric Holder. Afterward, Ivey returned to Capitol Hill to serve as majority counsel to U.S. Senate Banking Committee chairman Donald Riegle. From 1995 to 1997, he served as the counsel for senator Paul Sarbanes during the Senate Whitewater investigations and coordinated the Senate investigation into the suicide of Vince Foster. Eventually, Ivey served as chief counsel to Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle until 1998.
In March 1998, Governor Parris Glendening named Ivey to serve as chairman of the Maryland Public Service Commission. As chairman, Ivey oversaw the deregulation of Maryland's electric power industry and helped the PSC determine how to monitor telephone services and foster competition in the telecommunications industry. On October 18, 2000, Ivey announced that he would resign from the PSC by the end of the month to become a partner at the K&L Gates law firm, and said he was contemplating a 2002 run for Prince George's county state's attorney.
Ivey ran for Prince George's county state's attorney in 2002, seeking to succeed outgoing state's attorney Jack B. Johnson. In the primary, he was endorsed by U.S. representative Albert Wynn, U.S. senator Paul Sarbanes, and The Washington Post. He defeated deputy state's attorney Mark Spencer in the primary with 60.0% of the vote. He ran unopposed in the general election.
Following the end of his second term as state's attorney, Ivey became a partner at Venable LLP before moving to a position as a partner at Leftwich & Ludaway, in Washington, D.C., from 2012 to 2017. Afterward, he was a partner at the District-based law firm Price Benowitz. In 2020, Ivey opened his own law firm, Ivey & Levetown, in Greenbelt, Maryland.
Ivey taught trial advocacy at Harvard Law School during winter sessions from 2013 to 2021 and was an adjunct professor at the University of Maryland School of Law from 1995 to 2014. He is a past president of the D.C. chapter of the Harvard Law School Association, a former chair of the Maryland Legal Services Corporation, and a former member of the D.C. Bar Association's board of governors.
In July 2020, Prince George's county executive Angela Alsobrooks appointed Ivey to serve as the chair of the county's police reform task force. During committee meetings, Ivey scrutinized policies surrounding pretextual traffic stops, which experts say can enable racial profiling and precipitate a police shooting. The committee released its final report on December 3, which included recommendations relating to community engagement, employee hiring and retention, police department finances, internal oversight, and standards and regulations.
Ivey is a member of The Sentencing Project's Board of Directors.
Prince George's State's Attorney (2002–2011) Ivey ran and was elected twice as state's attorney for Prince George's county and served from January 2003 to January 2011. In November 2009, he declined to run for Prince George's county executive or for a third term as state's attorney, instead forming an exploratory committee to look at challenging U.S. representative Donna Edwards in the 2010 elections. In January 2010, he decided against running for a third term or against Edwards, saying he wanted to return to the private sector after the end of his term.
When Ivey took office in December 2002, Prince George's county had the second-highest crime rate in Maryland. During his two terms as state's attorney, he oversaw reductions in crime and led reform measures that put cameras in police interrogation rooms and prosecuted officers accused of excessive force. He sought to involve community groups in crafting policies and strategies for tackling crime in the county and partnered with faith leaders to assist domestic violence survivors and to gain tougher sentences for convicted offenders.
In October 2002, following the arrest of D.C. snipers Lee Boyd Malvo and John Allen Muhammad, Ivey declined to prosecute them in his county because of their murder convictions in both Maryland and Virginia.
In 2005, Montgomery County Executive Doug Duncan said he considered Ivey as his running mate in the 2006 Maryland gubernatorial election. Ivey declined, running for re-election instead.
In July 2008, Ivey's office faced intense public scrutiny to hold someone accountable following the strangulation death of 19-year-old Ronnie White, who was accused of killing a police officer. In December, the grand jury involved in the death investigation had concluded its deliberations, determining that it had insufficient evidence to bring down indictments in the case. After a yearlong investigation, Ivey announced that there was no evidence to support murder charges against jail employees. The Department of Justice also reviewed the case and concluded that there was insufficient evidence to charge anyone with murder or manslaughter.
In August 2010, Ivey endorsed Angela Alsobrooks, the executive director of the Prince George's county revenue authority, to succeed him as Prince George's county state's attorney.
U.S. House of Representatives (2023–present) Ivey was sworn into the United States House of Representatives on January 3, 2023, succeeding Anthony Brown.
Committee assignments For the 119th Congress: Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government Committee on Ethics
Caucus memberships Congressional Black Caucus Congressional Caucus for the Equal Rights Amendment Congressional Equality Caucus Bipartisan HBCU Caucus Bipartisan Artificial Intelligence Caucus Caucus on Homelessness Black Maternal Health Caucus High Tech Caucus Pro-Choice Caucus New Democrat Coalition Second Chance Task Force Democratic Faith Working Group Substance Abuse / Mental Health Task Force Gun Violence Prevention Task Force Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition
Tenure Ivey voted with President Joe Biden's stated position 96.2% of the time in the 118th Congress.
Ivey voted with President Donald Trump's stated position 10.5% of the time in the 119th Congress through 2025. The median House Democrat voted with President Trump 10% of the time.
On July 29, 2024, Ivey was announced as one of six Democratic members of a bipartisan task force investigating the attempted assassination of Donald Trump.
On March 19, 2025, Ivey became the first member of Congress to call for Chuck Schumer to step down as Senate Minority Leader, after Schumer allowed the Republican government funding bill to pass.
Elections
2012
In October 2011, Ivey said through a spokesperson that he was considering a run for the United States House of Representatives in Maryland's 4th congressional district, challenging the incumbent, Donna Edwards. He declared his candidacy on November 3, but dropped out in January 2012, saying he could not raise enough money for his campaign.
2016
In September 2015, Ivey announced that he would again run for the House of Representatives in Maryland's 4th congressional district, seeking to succeed Edwards, who unsuccessfully ran for United States Senate in 2016.
During the primary, Ivey was endorsed by former United States attorney general Eric Holder, Prince George's county executive Rushern Baker, state senator Victor R. Ramirez, and many municipal leaders. He also led his competitors, including former Maryland lieutenant governor Anthony Brown and state delegate Joseline Peña-Melnyk, in fundraising until the very end of the campaign.
The primary was held on April 26, 2016. Brown defeated Ivey, 41.6% to 34.0%, a margin of 8,712 votes out of 114,623 cast. Peña-Melnyk took 19.0%. Ivey worked as an attorney in private practice following his loss.
2022
On October 26, 2021, Ivey again declared his candidacy for the House of Representatives in Maryland's 4th congressional district, seeking to succeed outgoing three-term Democrat Anthony Brown, who ran for attorney general of Maryland in 2022. Redistricting after the 2020 census had preserved the 4th's longstanding heavy Democratic tint, and it was understood that whoever won the Democratic primary would be heavily favored in the general election.
During the primary, he was endorsed by The Washington Post, former Maryland governor Parris Glendening, former Prince George's county executive Rushern Baker, former Montgomery county executive Ike Leggett, and various municipal leaders. The United Democracy Project, a super PAC established by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, spent $5.9 million on Ivey's campaign, while J Street spent $720,000 on former U.S. representative Donna Edwards's campaign. Ivey downplayed the help he received from AIPAC and its allies, telling The Post that while their support was "extremely helpful", voters in the district weren't especially concerned about Israel. The New York Times described the race as a "proxy fight over Israel".
Ivey turned a 13-point deficit into a five-point lead over Edwards by early June, weeks before United Democracy Project began running TV ads on June 17.
The primary was held on July 19, 2022. Ivey defeated Edwards, 51.8% to 35.2%, a margin of 13,677 votes out of 82,662 cast. Former state delegate Angela Angel took 5.7% of the vote.
Ivey won the general election on November 8, 2022, defeating Republican nominee Jeff Warner with over 90 percent of the vote, one of the largest margins for a Democrat facing major-party opposition.
Political positions Capital punishment