Former state senator and delegate Victor Ramirez will return to elected office

Victor Ramirez has already represented Prince George’s County residents for nearly two decades.

It’s the place he has called home for most of his life. Ramirez was born in El Salvador and moved to Mount Rainier when he was a child. He has raised his own family of four in Hyattsville — when reached last week, he was in the middle of planning his daughter’s quinceañera.

Ramirez, 51, was elected as a Maryland state representative and senator from 2003 to 2019. He’s also been a practicing lawyer for more than 23 years and coaches boys soccer at his alma mater, Northwestern High School.

After several years out of public office, he’s likely to step back into the mix after winning June’s Democratic primary, with nearly 63% of the vote, to represent District 2 on the Prince George’s County Council. The county leans strongly Democratic, so primaries are seen as the more competitive races over November’s general election.

“I think this is where the rubber hits the road,” Ramirez told The Banner. “I love Prince George’s County. That’s one of the reasons I chose to run, is because I care about it. I care about the current status and the future of it. I think it’s a great place to live with a lot of opportunity.”

His return to an elected position now was not for a lack of trying in the intervening years.

Ramirez has been in a bit of a game of electoral musical chairs. He was thumped in the 2018 primary for Prince George’s County state’s attorney by Aisha Braveboy. Then he lost a closer race to Wanika Fisher in 2022 for the same District 2 seat he just won (Fisher ran an unsuccessful campaign this year for state’s attorney).

“This is where you can prioritize where the resources go for the county,” Ramirez said. “I felt like I was qualified to do the job and hit the ground running.”

Stepping up

Ramirez said his experience in the state legislature has emphasized the need for patience and practicality in government. But he also stressed that officials can earn that patience from constituents when they’re transparent and accountable.

“I think for residents, they just want a government that’s responsive,” Ramirez said. “They want a government that they feel is working for them. They realize that nothing happens overnight.”

One of his former and future colleagues, council member Jolene Ivey, has seen Ramirez’s relentless work ethic firsthand.

She first met him as an electoral opponent when she ran in 2006 to unseat one of three incumbents, which included Ramirez, to represent District 47 in the Maryland House of Delegates. Ivey told The Banner that they were the only two candidates knocking on doors and getting out in the community.

Ivey is particularly excited to welcome Ramirez and Michelle García, who won the Democratic primary to represent District 1 on the council, because of their heritage and connections to the Latino community amid concerns over U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement presence, she said.

Ivey said she was proud to help Ramirez in Annapolis when he sponsored a controversial 2013 bill that allowed undocumented immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses.

“He’s not afraid to do something that might be controversial if he thinks it’s right,” she said.

His anticipated arrival on the County Council comes amid a moment of uncertainty and strife for the body. The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, a bi-county agency that handles planning and other services in Prince George’s and Montgomery counties, is currently suing Prince George’s County over its attempt to transfer tens of millions of dollars from the commission to county coffers. Critics have voiced concern over the county’s handling of taxpayer funds.

Ramirez declined to give his perspective on these immediate challenges within the council, saying that it was too early to comment on a body that he’s not yet part of.

“I think that with every election, there comes an opportunity to do things differently,” Ramirez said.

His agenda

One of his priorities includes focusing on increasing the commercial tax base within his district and throughout the county.

“I think we realize that we can’t continue to go to residential property taxes and keep asking for more,” Ramirez said. “People have hit a certain level where they feel enough is enough.”

Ramirez specifically pointed toward using developments around Hyattsville and other hubs along the Metro as opportunities to generate revenue, similar to strategies in Montgomery County and Northern Virginia.

It all goes back to building trust among residents and his constituents, he said. On the campaign trail, he heard mixed feelings about people’s faith in the council and other county leaders. He sees business development as his launching point in office to fund other bread-and-butter issues countywide, such as public safety, senior services and public schools.

“For me, I think it’s making sure our services are being run as efficient and as effective as possible. That our agencies are responsive and meeting the needs,” Ramirez said. “To me, that’s priority number one. We need to make sure those things are functioning.”

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