The friends, neighbors and political supporters of House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones (D-Baltimore County) are celebrating her ascension to the top job on Wednesday night in her home territory.
The free cocktail reception is taking place from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Martin’s West Baltimore, the giant event hall in Windsor Mill, just south of the Baltimore Beltway.
The organizers advise that they’ve already given away all the available tickets.
Jones was on Capitol Hill Tuesday. She got a special shout-out from that other speaker of the House, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) during a celebration in Statuary Hall marking the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote.
While on Capitol Hill, Jones met with U.S. Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.), the former speaker of the California state Assembly — the first African-American woman to serve as speaker of a legislative chamber in the U.S.
“As the first woman and first African-American to serve as Speaker of the House of Delegates, Speaker Jones will bring an important perspective to leadership in the General Assembly,” U.S. House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) said in a statement after meeting with Jones on the Hill. “I look forward to working with her in the years to come to pursue policies that help families in Maryland get ahead.”
As a former state Senate president, Hoyer knows a thing or two about being a presiding officer in Annapolis.
Meanwhile, Jones is starting to make the rounds of colleagues’ political fundraisers — one of the rudiments of the job. She turned up at an event for Del. Jazz Lewis (D-Prince George’s) on Monday night, and Del. Courtney Watson (D-Howard) announced on Twitter Tuesday that Jones would be the headliner at her fundraiser on June 5 in Ellicott City.