Representative Jen Terrasa Contact information

Jennifer R. Terrasa, known as Jen Terrasa, was born on June 6, 1969, in New York City. Her family moved to Columbia, Maryland when she was a toddler. She graduated from Oakland Mills High School and later attended the University of Maryland at College Park, where she earned a B.A. degree in sociology in 1992. She then attended the University of Baltimore School of Law, where she earned a J.D. degree in law review in 1997. She was admitted to the Maryland Bar in the same year.

After graduating, she served as a law clerk to Maryland Court of Appeals judge Howard S. Chasanow until 1998 and Howard County Circuit Court judge Lenore R. Gelfman until 1999. From 2000 to 2006, Terrasa served as a family law hotline attorney for the Women’s Law Center of Maryland.

In 1994, Terrasa moved to the Kings Contrivance neighborhood of Columbia. She was appointed to the neighborhood’s Village Board in December 2001, succeeding Victoria Dieringer, who resigned for personal reasons. She resigned from the Village Board in December 2005 to run for the Howard County Council, seeking to succeed councilmember Guy Guzzone, who announced plans to run for the Maryland House of Delegates. She won the general election with 62.0 percent of the vote.

Terrasa was a national delegate for Barack Obama at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Before the 2008 Maryland Democratic presidential primary, Terrasa canvassed alongside county council member Calvin Ball III in Oakland Mills for Obama. Terrasa faced a tough re-election campaign in 2010, facing off against Republican moderate Dennis R. Schrader in the general election. She defeated Schrader in the general election, receiving 67.1 percent of the vote.

In January 2018, Terrasa declared her candidacy for the Maryland House of Delegates, seeking to succeed delegate Frank Turner. who announced plans to retire at the end of his term. She assumed office on January 9, 2019. Her current term ends on January 13, 2027. Terrasa ran for re-election to the Maryland House of Delegates to represent District 13. She won in the general election on November 8, 2022.