Gladys Spellman
A consummate politician, Spellman was part of the wave of young, new suburban dwellers who moved to Prince George's County from Washington and elsewhere in the years after World War II, and that group remained her constituency throughout her political career.Spellman easily won the Democratic primary nomination in September 1974 for Maryland's fifth congressional seat, and went on to defeat the Republican, John B. Burcham, Jr., in the general election.[4] Spellman also resisted placing restrictions on hiring or promotion of federal employees and opposed Jimmy Carter's plan to reform the civil service system in 1978.[7] Five days later, on November 4, she was re-elected to Congress with 80% of the vote against a little-known Republican opponent, but it soon became clear that she would be comatose for the rest of her life.He was defeated for the Democratic nomination by Steny Hoyer,[11] who won the special election on May 19 against the Republican nominee, Bowie mayor Audrey Scott.