Quick Facts
Biography
Jean B. Cryor (December 13, 1938 – November 3, 2009) was a member of the Maryland House of Delegates for District 15, which covers a portion of Montgomery County, Maryland, and later sat on the Montgomery County Planning Board as one of two Republicans, by appointment from June 2007 until the time of her death from cancer. She was born near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Background
Cryor was first elected in 1993 when two of the three sitting delegates did not run for reelection in the 1993 election. She served for 12 years until 2007, when she was defeated by Craig L. Rice by 152 votes, an election which saw many Republicans voted out of office nationwide. She was the last elected Republican in the Maryland General Assembly serving Montgomery County. She married Daniel J. Cryor (1933–1978) November 21, 1959. She has three daughters: Allison, Jennifer and Deirdre.
Education
Cryor attended Convent of the Sacred Heart in Overbrook, Pennsylvania, now located in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. She attended the University of Pennsylvania. In 1979, she graduated from Loyola College in Maryland with her M.B.A.
Career
Cryor was a former writer, editor and publisher of the Gazette Newspapers and a reporter with the Philadelphia Bulletin.
In 2000, she was selected as a delegate for the Republican Party National Convention. In addition to her delegate work, she was a board member of BlackRock Center for the Arts, the Jewish Foundation for Group Homes [1]. She was also on the board for Convent of the Sacred Heart and the Potomac Theater Company [2].
Cryor has won several awards over her career, including first prize for Investigative Reporting by the Maryland Society of Professional Journalists [3] in 1993. She was also awarded Citizen of the Year by Almanac Newspapers. In 2000 she was elected Legislator of the Year by the Maryland Retailers Association [4]. In 2002, she was Businessperson of the Year according to the Maryland Business for Responsive Government [5]. She was also named a Hero of the Taxpayer by the Maryland Taxpayers Association [6].
In 2002, she was many awards including the award for Building the Bridge to Educational Excellence in Maryland Public Schools by the State Board of Education, Legislator of the Year by the Childhood Brain Tumor Foundation and Registry of Maryland, and the Thornton Commission Award by the State Board of Education. Additionally, she has voted as one of Maryland's Top 100 Women by the Daily Record in 2003 and again in 2006, the Woman of Achievement Award by the Suburban Maryland Business and Professional Women Association in 2005, and finally she received a Lifetime Service Award from the Potomac Chamber of Commerce [7] in 2006.
While in the House of Delegates, Cryor was a member of the following committees: Ways and Means Committee from 1995 until 2007, the Conference committee on taxes in 1996, the Joint Committee on Community College Funding in 1996, the Rules and Executive Nominations Committee from 2004 until 2007, and the Legislative Policy Committee from 2005 until 2007. Furthermore, she also served on the Special Committee on State Employee Rights and Protections from 2005 until 2007, and the House Facilities Committee from 2005 until 2007. She was a member of the Steering Committee for the House Republican Caucus for ten years starting in 1997, the County Affairs Committee, and the Montgomery County Delegation. Finally, she was on the Executive Board of the Women Legislators of Maryland from 2006 until 2007, serving as president-elect from 2003–04 and president from 2004 until 2005.
At the time of her death, Cryor was a Commissioner on the Montgomery County Planning Board. She also served as a Commissioner of the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission.
Election results
- 2006 Race for Maryland House of Delegates – District 15
- Voters to choose three:
Name Votes Percent Outcome Kathleen M. Dumais, Dem. 25,781 21.6% Won Brian J. Feldman, Dem. 25,760 21.6% Won Craig L. Rice, Dem. 20,202 17.0% Won Jean B. Cryor, Rep. 20,050 16.8% Lost Brian Mezger, Rep. 14,112 11.8% Lost Chris Pilkerton, Rep. 13,174 11.1% Lost
- 2002 Race for Maryland House of Delegates – District 15
- Voters to choose three:
Name Votes Percent Outcome Jean B. Cryor, Rep. 20,584 18.7% Won Brian J. Feldman, Dem. 19,719 17.9% Won Kathleen M. Dumais, Dem. 19,246 17.5% Won John Young, Dem. 17,358 15.8% Lost William Ferner Askinazi, Rep. 16,693 15.2% Lost Mary Kane, Rep. 16,579 15.0% Lost Other Write-Ins 42 0.0% Lost
- 1998 Race for Maryland House of Delegates – District 15
- Voters to choose three:
Name Votes Percent Outcome Mark K. Shriver, Dem. 26,114 22% Won Jean B. Cryor, Rep. 22,160 19% Won Richard A. La Vay, Rep. 18,395 16% Won David B. Dashefsky, Dem. 17,818 15% Lost William Ferner Askinazi, Rep. 16,882 14% Lost Anthony Patrick Puca, Dem. 16,841 14% Lost
- 1994 Race for Maryland House of Delegates – District 15
- Voters to choose three:
Name Votes Percent Outcome Mark K. Shriver, Dem. 20,696 20% Won Jean Cryor, Rep. 18,804 18% Won Richard La Vay, Rep. 17,214 17% Won Stuart D. Schooler, Dem. 15,882 15% Lost Elizabeth Tookie Gentilcore, Dem. 15,325 15% Lost Davis M. Richardson, Rep. 15,847 15% Lost