Del. Joseline Peña-Melnyk who represents College Park’s district in the state legislature, will serve as the next speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates.

The Maryland General Assembly convened in Annapolis on Tuesday for a special legislative session called by Gov. Wes Moore to select a new leader. The vote to select Peña-Melnyk came after former Speaker Adrienne Jones (D-Baltimore County) announced on Dec. 4 that she was stepping down from leadership — though she will keep her seat in District 10.

In a speech to the House after being sworn in, Peña-Melnyk spoke of the importance of being an inclusive and fair leader, and of fighting for those who feel unseen or unheard.

“This moment belongs not just to me,” she said, “but to every child catching rain in a pot, every family struggling to make ends meet, every immigrant daring to believe that tomorrow can be better than today.”

The decision was finalized on Tuesday, but the path to the speakership for Peña-Melnyk (D-Prince George’s and Anne Arundel) was cleared early last week.

Just three days after Jones announced her sudden departure from the House of Delegates’ top position, three of the four leading contenders had suspended their candidacy and threw their support behind Peña-Melnyk, The Baltimore Banner reported last week.

Peña-Melnyk, who chairs the Health and Government Operations Committee, also drew several high-profile public endorsements, including from Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott and Prince George’s County Executive Aisha Braveboy.

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The other initial candidates for speaker, according to The Baltimore Banner, included:

  • House Appropriations Committee Chair Ben Barnes (D-Anne Arundel, Prince George’s), who represents the same district as Peña-Melnyk.
  • House Economic Matters Committee Chair C.T. Wilson (D-Charles).
  • Del. Jheanelle Wilkins (D-Montgomery), who chairs the state’s Legislative Black Caucus.

With Peña-Melnyk’s election, the House of Delegates is going from one historic speaker to the next.

Jones was the first Black legislator and the first woman to lead the House upon her election as speaker in 2019.

And now Peña-Melnyk, who was born in the Dominican Republic and immigrated to the U.S. with her family when she was a child, will serve as the House’s first immigrant and first Afro-Latina speaker.

She got her start in politics just off this university’s campus.

From 2003-06, she served on the College Park City Council, representing District 4. In 2006, she won her seat in the Maryland General Assembly, which she has held since.

In a statement Tuesday, Moore praised Peña-Melnyk as a “leader who defines public service in every beautiful sense of that phrase.”

“Former Speaker Adrienne Jones leaves big shoes to fill,” he wrote in the statement. “But I have complete confidence that Joseline Peña-Melnyk will carry forward—and build on—Speaker Jones’ profound legacy of leadership, while also building a legacy of her own.”

While the special session was called to elect the new speaker, it may now address other issues, including potential overrides of several bills vetoed by Moore last session.

The General Assembly will convene for its regular 90-day session on Jan. 14, 2026.