Mary Roe Walkup

Background

First elected in 1994, she won one of two seats left open by R. Clayton Mitchell and C. Ronald Franks, serving alongside Wheeler R. Baker and Ronald A. Guns. In 1998, delegates were elected by county, in which case Walkup defeated Democratic challenger Clarence Hawkins for the seat in Kent County. In 2002, the election returned to the District selecting three delegates from the list. She was one of three Republicans, the others being Richard Sossi and Michael D. Smigiel, Sr., that helped unseat incumbent Wheeler R. Baker. Finally, in 2006, the election returned to voting for one candidate per county, and she won reelection by defeating Joan O. Horsey.

Education

Walkup attended Kent County public schools. She graduated from the University of Maryland School of Nursing with her R.N. in 1945.

Career

After college, Walkup was a nurse at the University of Maryland Hospital. In 1978, she was elected to the Board of County Commissioners for Kent County, serving two terms, the second term as President.

Walkup has also been a lifelong advocate of environmental matters. She served for four years starting in 1982 as a delegate for the Legislative Committee on the Maryland Association of Counties. She is a charter member of Kent Conservation, Inc., as citizens' watchdog group founded in 1969 that focuses on environmental issues in Kent County.

Walkup is also a member of the Kent Chapter of the American Red Cross, Kent County Farm Bureau, the Chester River Association, the Eastern Shore Land Conservancy, and the Maryland Conservation Council. In 1977, she received the Conservationist of the Year from the Maryland Wildlife Federation.

In the legislature

As a member of the Maryland House of Delegates, Walkup served on the Economic Matters Committee beginning in 1995, and several other subcomittees.

Legislative notes

Election results