The Prince George’s County Council elected District 8 council member Edward Burroughs III as the body’s chair for the rest of the 2025 legislative year during its meeting Tuesday.

Burroughs, who won the vote 7-0-2 and previously served as vice chair, becomes the council’s youngest ever chair at age 32 and replaces District 5 council member Jolene Ivey. District 7 council member Krystal Oriadha was elected as vice chair for the legislative year after winning her vote 8-0.

Tuesday’s vote comes after the council failed to elect a new chair after multiple rounds of voting in December, The Diamondback previously reported.

“It is truly an honor to become the chair of a body that I first testified in front of as a ninth grader at Crossland High School trying to get something as simple, yet as essential, as an auditorium,” Burroughs said during Tuesday’s meeting. “My commitment is clear that we must treat all of Prince George’s County with dignity and respect.”

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Burroughs, a lifelong Prince George’s County resident, was elected to the council in 2022. He previously served on the Prince George’s County Board of Education for 13 years, starting as a student member when he was a sophomore in high school. He has also worked in the Prince George’s County state’s attorney’s office, where he led the youth court division.

Oriadha was also elected to the council in 2022. She is a co-founder of PG ChangeMakers, a local grassroots organization that focuses on issues such as food insecurity, police reform, healthcare and other social issues.

“There is hard work ahead of us, but I feel very confident that we can do it together. We have so many different points of views, expertise [and] ideas,” Oriadha said at the meeting. “I know with myself and chair Burroughs, there’s an openness to collaborate and learn and expand on all of the things that you all want to do.”

District 1 council member Thomas Dernoga said he has recognized Burroughs’ potential for many years.

“I actually had Mr. Burroughs as an intern,” Dernoga said at the meeting. “I could see the leadership skills that he had at that time, the desire to do what’s best for the public [and] the desire to lift up our youth.”