Shaneka Tarae Johnson (née Henson; born July 29, 1983) is an American politician and attorney who has served as a member of the Maryland House of Delegates representing District 30A since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served as an alderwoman on the Annapolis City Council from 2017 to 2019.
Background
Shaneka Tarae Henson[1] was born in Annapolis, Maryland,[2] on July 29, 1983.[3] Her mother, Terry, and her father were both pastors at the New Life Presbyterian Church in Annapolis for fifteen years.[4] Henson graduated from Coppin State University with a Bachelor of Science degree, and the University of Baltimore with a Juris Doctor degree. Henson was admitted to the Maryland Bar in 2010,[3] after which she worked as a practicing attorney for the Anne Arundel County State's Attorney's office and the YWCA. In 2020, she started her own law firm, Johnson Legal Group LLC.[1]
In 2016, Henson graduated from a training course hosted by Emerge Maryland, an organization created to prepare potential female Democratic candidates for public office.[5]
Political career
Annapolis City Council
In 2016, Henson filed to run for the Annapolis City Council in ward 6, challenging incumbent Alderman Kenny Kirby,[2] who later announced his retirement. In the Democratic primary, she faced challenger DaJuan Gay,[6] whom she defeated with 67.8 percent of the vote.[7] Henson ran unopposed in the general election,[6] and was sworn in on December 4, 2017.[8]
In October 2018, Annapolis mayor Gavin Buckley named Henson to serve as acting mayor for two weeks.[9]
Henson resigned from the city council on April 29, 2019, after the Anne Arundel County Democratic Central Committee nominated her to the Maryland House of Delegates.[10] She was succeeded by DaJuan Gay following a special election to fill her seat.[11]
Maryland General Assembly
In April 2019, following the death of House Speaker Michael E. Busch, Henson applied to serve the remainder of his term in the Maryland House of Delegates.[12] The Anne Arundel County Democratic Central Committee voted 11-1 to nominate her to fill the vacancy.[4] Governor Larry Hogan appointed her to the seat on May 6,[13] and she was sworn in on May 16.[14] She is the first African-American woman to represent Annapolis in the Maryland General Assembly.[1] Henson was elected to a full four-year term in 2022.[15]
Henson served on the Appropriations Committee from 2019 to 2023,[3] after which she was switched to the Ways and Means Committee after questions were raised about a potential conflict of interest involving Henson's legal work for a nonprofit which received state funding.[16] In April 2024, the Joint Committee on Legislative Ethics released a five-page letter condemning Henson's "ongoing practice" to hide her conflicts of interest, recommending to legislative leaders that she not be reassigned to the House Appropriations Committee and calling on her to apologize to the public. Henson released a statement on her website in response to the report that scolded members of the panel for failing to strike a more "collaborative and constructive tone" and contradicted some of the ethics panel's findings.[17]
Henson is married to her husband, Marcus Johnson.[14] Together, they have a son.[2] She is a Christian.[19]
In May 2016, Henson settled a $1,889 state tax lien that had been placed against her.[20]
Political positions
Criminal justice
Henson supports a "holistic approach" toward addressing crime, which includes addressing socioeconomic issues and tackling issues "from the law enforcement perspective".[2]
During the 2020 legislative session, Henson introduced legislation to freeze child support orders of parents serving a prison sentence of six months or longer. The bill passed and became law.[21] She introduced another bill to ease restrictions on when prosecutors could use hearsay evidence in witness intimidation cases.[22]
In July 2020, Henson criticized Governor Larry Hogan requiring voters to apply for a mail-in ballot if they did not want to vote in-person for the 2020 general election, saying that he had "stepped on people's voting rights".[24] During the 2021 legislative session, she introduced legislation to ban guns at polling places[25] and supported a bill requiring the automatic mailing of ballots to all registered voters.[26]
Housing
During the 2020 legislative session, Henson introduced bills to establish statewide mold inspection standards,[27] which did not receive a vote,[28] and another to close a loophole that allowed Annapolis to avoid responsibility for inspecting its public housing units,[29] which was signed into law by Governor Larry Hogan.[30] In 2021, she introduced legislation to shield a tenant's eviction records from public view if they won an eviction case.[31]
Social issues
During the 2020 legislative session, Henson supported the CROWN Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of hair style and texture.[32]
During the 2021 legislative session, Henson supported a bill to make Juneteenth a state holiday.[38]
In October 2021, Henson participated in and spoke at a protest in Annapolis to endorse legislation expansion to expand abortion rights in Maryland.[19] However, during the 2022 legislative session, Henson voted against the Abortion Care Access Act, a bill to expand the kinds of health care practitioners that could perform abortions in Maryland and provide $3.5 million to train these professionals on performing the procedure, and voted to uphold Governor Larry Hogan's veto of the bill. In June 2022, on the night following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, Henson attended a protest in Annapolis against the court's ruling. During the 2023 legislative session, Henson voted for Question 1, a voter referendum that established a right to reproductive freedom in the Constitution of Maryland.[18]
During the 2022 legislative session, Henson introduced a bill to add critical medical devices, including thermometers, pulse oximeters, and blood pressure monitors, to the state's sales tax exemptions,[40] which passed and was signed into law by Governor Larry Hogan.[41]
Electoral history
Annapolis City Council Ward 6 Democratic primary election, 2017[7]