Elijah Eugene Cummings, popularly known as Elijah Cummings He was an American politician and civil rights defender. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives for the seventh district of the Maryland Congress from 1996 until his death in 2019. He previously served in the Maryland House of Delegates from 1983 to 1996. He died on October 17, 2019 at the age 68 years old
Why is Elijah Cummings famous?
- House of Representatives of the United States for the seventh district of the Maryland Congress from 1996 to 2019.
Source: @ everipedia.com
Where was Elijah Cummings born?
Elijah Cummings was born on January 18, 1951. His birth name is Elijah Eugene Cummings. His birthplace is in Baltimore, Maryland, in the United States. He had American nationality. He was born to a father, Robert Cummings, and a mother Ruth Elma Cochran. He had 6 brothers.
He attended Baltimore City College, where he completed his high school in 1969. He then attended Howard University in Washington D.C. He graduated from Howard with a degree in Political Science in 1973. He was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society at Howard. He received his Juris Doctor from the University of Maryland Law School in 1976.
Source: @ nytimes.com
Law career
After graduating from law school in 1976, he passed the Maryland Bar Association in the same year.
Then he practiced law for 19 years.
He served in the Maryland House of Delegates for 14 years from 1983 to 1996.
He served as President of the Maryland Black Legislative Caucus at the Maryland General Assembly.
He was the first African-American in the history of Maryland to be named Speaker Pro Tempore.
He also served on several boards and commissions, including the Board of Directors of the Maryland SEED Schools, the Advisory Board of the University of Maryland Law School, the United States Naval Academy Visitor Board, the Program Youth Elijah Cummings in Israel.
He was an honorary member of the Board of Trustees of the Baltimore Zoo.
During this period, he also wrote a biweekly column for the Baltimore African-American newspaper.
Source: @ startribune.com
United States House of Representatives
Cummings won the seven-way Democratic primary election.
He defeated Republican Kenneth Kondner in the special elections.
He defeated Kondner again in the general elections to win a seat in the House of Representatives of the United States in 1996.
Since then, Cummings was re-elected 11 times. His poll never fell below 69 percent of the vote.
He ran without opposition in 2006.
He also served as chairman of the Supervision and Reform Committee from January 2019 until his death in October 2019.
He defeated Carolyn Maloney in a vote of the Democratic Caucus of the House.
He was a member of the Progressive Caucus of Congress.
He served as president of the Black Caucus of Congress during the 108th United States Congress.
Source: @ diply.com
Who did Elijah Cummings marry?
Elijah Cummings was a married man. He was married to Maya Rockeymoore Cummings. The couple married in 2008. The couple shared 3 children together. His wife Maya was elected president of the Maryland Democratic Party in December 2018.
He was previously married to Joyce Matthews, from whom he divorced in 1982.
He underwent surgery to repair his aortic valve in May 2017. He developed an infection related to surgery in July 2017. He was subsequently hospitalized for a knee infection.
Cummings died at Johns Hopkins Hospital at the age of 68 on October 17, 2019. The cause of his death was announced as "complications related to long-standing health challenges."
