Wynn, Albert R. (Albert Russell), 1951-

<p>Albert Wynn won election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1992, in an affluent, predominantly African–American district in suburban Maryland. With a decade of service in the state legislature, Wynn quickly adapted to the U.S. House, eventually earning a seat on the prestigious Energy and Commerce Committee and moving into the hierarchy of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC).</p>

<p>Albert Russell Wynn was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on September 10, 1951. His family moved to North Carolina, where his father, Albert Fitzgerald Wynn, farmed and his mother, Rose Russell Wynn, taught school.1 When his father was hired by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the family moved to a suburb of Washington, DC, where Wynn attended the public schools in Prince George’s County, Maryland. In 1973, Wynn graduated with a bachelor of science degree in political science from the University of Pittsburgh. He briefly studied public administration at Howard University in Washington, DC, before entering Georgetown University and earning a law degree in 1977. Wynn later served as director of the Prince George’s consumer protection commission. After opening his own law firm in 1982, Wynn won election to the Maryland house of delegates, where he served from 1983 to 1987. He was then elected to the Maryland state senate, serving there until 1993 and rising to the post of deputy majority whip. Wynn is married to Gaines Clore Wynn, an artist and art educator. They have two daughters, Meredith and Gabrielle, and a grandson, Kaden Nicholas.</p>

<p>Following the 1990 Census, the Maryland state legislature created a new congressional district that encompassed sections of Prince George’s and Montgomery counties inside the Capital Beltway along the border of the District of Columbia. In the 1970s and 1980s, Prince George’s County had become increasingly African American as blacks from Washington, DC, moved to the suburbs. Prince George’s County was home to a large group of middle– to upper–middle–class African Americans, many of whom were federal workers, and blacks accounted for 58 percent of the heavily Democratic district. In the March 3, 1992, Democratic primary, Wynn garnered 28 percent of the vote, defeating his closest opponent, Prince George’s County’s State’s Attorney Alex Williams, by several percentage points—in large measure because he performed better than Williams in the Montgomery County sections of the district.2 Wynn easily prevailed in the general election, claiming 75 percent of the vote against Republican candidate Michele Dyson, an African–American business consultant. In his subsequent seven re–election bids, Wynn won with pluralities of 75 percent or more (he received 87 percent of the vote in 1998).</p>

<p>Albert Russell Wynn (born September 10, 1951) is an American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing the 4th district of Maryland from 1993 to 2008. On February 13, 2008, Wynn was defeated in the Democratic primary by Donna Edwards, and resigned his office effective May 31, 2008.</p>

<p>Wynn was born in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. He was educated at the University of Pittsburgh, Howard University, and Georgetown University Law Center. While attending the University of Pittsburgh, Wynn was initiated as a member of the Beta Epsilon chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity.</p>

<p>Soon after graduating, Wynn became director of the Prince George's County Consumer Protection Commission. In 1982, he founded his own law firm. He then spent a decade in the Maryland General Assembly, serving in the state house from 1983 to 1987 and in the state senate from 1987 to 1993.</p>

<p>Wynn entered the Democratic primary for the 4th District in 1992. The 4th had been reconfigured as a black-majority district after the 1990 Census, and the previous incumbent, six-term Democrat Tom McMillen, had been drawn out of the district. Wynn won a crowded seven-way primary by 1,300 votes, all but assuring him of election in the heavily Democratic district. He won the general election in November with 75 percent of the vote and was reelected seven times, never dropping below 75 percent of the vote.</p>

WYNN, Albert Russell, a Representative from Maryland; born in Philadelphia, Montgomery County, Pa., September 10, 1951; graduated from DuVal High School, Lanham, Md., 1969; B.S., University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pa., 1973; attended Howard University Graduate School of Political Science, Washington, D.C.; J.D., Georgetown University School of Law, Washington, D.C., 1977; director, Prince George's County, Md., consumer protection commission, 1977-1982; member of the Maryland state house of delegates, 1983-1987; member of the Maryland state senate, 1987-1993; elected as a Democrat to the One Hundred Third and to the seven succeeding Congresses until his resignation May 31, 2008 (January 3, 1993-May 31, 2008).