Senator J. B. Jennings Contact information

J.B. Jennings, born on March 27, 1974, in Baltimore, Maryland, is an American politician affiliated with the Republican Party. He serves as a member of the Maryland State Senate, representing District 7. Jennings assumed office on January 12, 2011.

Jonathan Bartlett Jennings, known as J. B. Jennings grew up in Phoenix, Maryland, and graduated from Dulaney High School. He later attended Essex Community College, where he earned an associate degree in 1995, and the University of Baltimore, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration in 1997.

Jennings worked as a full-time Black Angus cattle farmer from 1992 to 2008, becoming a part-time beef and horse farmer after joining the Maryland Air National Guard. As an Airman 1st Class, he was activated for military service at Robins Air Force Base in Georgia during his first term as a state senator in 2011, causing him to miss the entire session. Jennings also co-owns the Mill of Hereford, an animal feed store, owns his own consulting company, and serves as a volunteer firefighter for the Jacksonville Volunteer Fire Company.

Jennings first became involved in politics as a staff assistant to U.S. Representative Bob Ehrlich from 1997 to 1998. He ran for the Maryland House of Delegates in 2002, on a platform that included issues involving school crowding and over-development. He was sworn in on January 8, 2003. He served as a member of the Environmental Matters Committee and as a deputy minority whip from 2003 to 2006, afterwards serving in the Ways and Means Committee from 2007 to 2009 and the Judiciary Committee from 2009 to 2011.

In October 2009, after state senator Andy Harris announced that he would run for Congress in Maryland’s 1st congressional district in 2010, Jennings entered the race to succeed him. He was elected to the Maryland Senate in 2011 and has been serving as a member of the Maryland Senate representing the seventh district since then. A member of the Republican Party, he previously represented the district in the Maryland House of Delegates from 2003 to 2011, and served as the minority leader of the Senate from 2014 to 2020.