# Diana M. Fennell

Diana M. Fennell (born August 6, 1967) is an American politician who represents District 47A in the Maryland House of Delegates. She previously served as the mayor of Colmar Manor, Maryland from 2000 to 2010 and as a member of the Colmar Manor town council from 1995 to 2000.

## Background

Fennell was born on August 6, 1967, in Emporia, Virginia, where she graduated from Greensville County High School. In 2004, she attended the Academy for Excellence in Local Governance at the University of Maryland, College Park School of Public Policy.
Fennell moved from Washington, D.C. to Colmar Manor, Maryland in the early 1990s. In 1994, a neighbor urged her to seek public office. She successfully ran for Colmar Manor town council and was sworn in 1995. In 2000, she was elected as the town's mayor, where she served until 2010.
In 2002, Fennell ran for the Maryland House of Delegates in District 47. She came in fourth place in the primary election, receiving 13.1 percent of the vote.
In 2014, Fennell again ran for the Maryland House of Delegates, receiving the backing of state senator Victor R. Ramirez during the primary election. She won the Democratic primary alongside Jimmy Tarlau, receiving 23.7 percent of the vote and defeating incumbent state delegate Michael Summers. She received 52.1 percent of the vote in the general election.

## In the legislature

Fennell was sworn into the Maryland House of Delegates on January 14, 2015, and was assigned to the House Ways and Means Committee. In her committee, she serves on the election law subcommittee, the finance resources subcommittee, and the revenues subcommittee. She is also a member of the Prince George's County Delegation, Women Legislators of Maryland, and the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland.

## Political positions
### Elections

Fennell voted for legislation introduced in the 2019 legislative session that would lift a ban on developer contributions in county political races in Prince George's County, Maryland.

### Marijuana

Fennell supported legislation introduced during the 2018 legislative session that would reform the state's Medical Cannabis Commission and ensure diversity for proprietors in the industry.

### Minimum wage

Fennell introduced legislation during the 2019 legislative session that would raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour in 2023 and phase out the state's tipped wage by 2026. During committee hearings, the bill was amended to push back the full-on effective date to 2025 and to remove provisions to automatically increase the wage based on the national consumer price index. The bill passed as amended and received a gubernatorial veto override on March 28, 2019.

## Electoral history

* 2002 Race for Maryland House of Delegates – 47th District (Democratic Primary)
       Voters to choose three:
    Name Votes Percent Outcome Rosetta C. Parker (Incumbent), Democratic 3,584  17.2%  Won Doyle Niemann, Democratic 3,521  16.9%  Won Victor R. Ramirez, Democratic 3,054  14.6%  Won Diana M. Fennell, Democratic 2,724  13.1%   Bob McGrory, Democratic 2,298  16.6%   Lee P. Walker, Democratic 2,229  10.7%   Lillian K. Beverly, Democratic 1,808  8.7%   Fred Price Jr., Democratic 1,136  6.3%   Theodore N. Pantazes, Democratic 323  1.5%
* 2014 Race for Maryland House of Delegates – 47A District (Democratic Primary)
       Voters to choose two:
    Name Votes Percent Outcome Jimmy Tarlau, Democratic 2,728  26.7%  Won Diana Fennell, Democratic 2,416  23.7%  Won Michael Summers (Incumbent), Democratic 1,740  17.1%   Malcolm Augustine, Democratic 1,688  16.6%   Joseph Solomon, Democratic 1,627  16%
* 2014 Race for Maryland House of Delegates – 47A District (General Election)
       Voters to choose two:
    Name Votes Percent Outcome Diana Fennell, Democratic 11,198  52.1%  Won Jimmy Tarlau, Democratic 8,836  41.1%  Won Fred Price Jr., Republican 1,424  6.6%   Other Write-Ins 55  0.3%
* 2018 Race for Maryland House of Delegates – 47A District (Democratic Primary)
       Voters to choose two:
    Name Votes Percent Outcome Diana Fennell (Incumbent), Democratic 5,239  37.8%  Won Julian Ivey, Democratic 4,504  32.5%  Won Jimmy Tarlau (Incumbent), Democratic 4,104  29.6%
* 2018 Race for Maryland House of Delegates – 47A District (General Election)
       Voters to choose two:
    Name Votes Percent Outcome Julian Ivey, Democratic 15,981  52,2%  Won Diana Fennell (Incumbent), Democratic 14,192  46.4%  Won Other Write-Ins 429  1.4%  Won