Kweisi Mfume
Kweisi Mfume, a Democrat who has represented Maryland's 7th congressional district since 2020 after an earlier tenure from 1987 to 1996 and years as NAACP president, faces Republican Scott Collier in the 2026 election.
2026 Races & Market Forecast
Live TruthIndex™ and prediction market consensus for races contested by Kweisi Mfume.
Live News
Recent media coverage for Kweisi Mfume.
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ANCA endorses congressional allies for 2026 midterm elections
Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA-42) – B [...] Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) – A
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Frenan plan para cerrar centro de investigación en Maryland 2026
The article discusses a court ruling tied to Maryland politics and notes that Maryland’s congressional delegation: including Representative Kweisi Mfume (MD-07), along with Senators Van Hollen and Alsobrooks and…
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Turner Station Flood Study Secures $1M Federal Funding and Plans $350M Resilience Projects
Kweisi Mfume secured a $1 million congressional earmark for Turner Station, MD (MD-07), enabling a flood study and resilience work.
No story this week names this candidate.
- Born
- October 24, 1948
- Birthplace
- Baltimore, Maryland
- Education
- Morgan State University (Bachelor of Science, 1976)
Johns Hopkins University (Master of Science, 1984)
Biography & Campaign Analysis
Background
Kweisi Mfume was born Frizzell Gerard Tate in Baltimore, Maryland, on October 24, 1948, the eldest of four children, and as a child took the surname Gray after his stepfather.
After his mother died, he dropped out of high school at 16 and worked as many as three jobs at a time to support his three sisters. He changed his name to Kweisi Mfume in the early 1970s.
Mfume received a Bachelor of Science degree from Morgan State University in 1976 and a Master of Science degree from Johns Hopkins University in 1984.
Career
Kweisi Mfume was elected to the Baltimore City Council in 1978 and to the U.S. House of Representatives in November 1986, succeeding fellow Democrat Parren Mitchell in the 7th district. He won re-election four times and chaired the Congressional Black Caucus from 1993 to 1995.
In February 1996 he left the House to become president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), a position he held until 2004.
He lost the 2006 Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate to Ben Cardin, later served as chief executive officer of the National Medical Association from 2010 to 2011, and became chair of the Morgan State University board of regents in 2013.
After the death of Elijah Cummings, Mfume won the Democratic nomination for the special election on February 4, 2020, defeating Maya Rockeymoore Cummings, and defeated Republican Kimberly Klacik on April 28, 2020.
He was sworn in on May 5, defeated Klacik again in the November 2020 race for a full term, and in 2024 defeated Republican Scott Collier and Libertarian Ronald Owens-Bey.
In the 119th Congress he serves on the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, where he is ranking member of the Subcommittee on Government Operations, and the Committee on Foreign Affairs.
2026 race
Kweisi Mfume is seeking re-election in Maryland's 7th congressional district, which includes most of Baltimore and some of its suburbs, after winning 80.3% of the vote in 2024.
In the Democratic primary he took 70.1% of the vote against a field that included Baltimore city councilor Mark Conway, project manager Tashi Davis, and school bus driver Theo Gillespie.
In the general election on November 3, 2026, he faces a rematch with Republican Scott Collier, who was the only candidate in his party's primary.