Edward Joseph Pipkin, Jr. is a Republican former member of the Maryland State Senate, had represented Maryland's 36th Senate district, and was first elected in 2002 and served until 2013. Prior to his election to the state senate, he worked in the field of business finance, trading bonds in New York City. He also founded an environmental group known as "Citizens Against Bay Dumping," during which he was successful in lobbying for legislation that banned irresponsible disposal of dredge spoils in the Chesapeake Bay. Pipkin currently lives in Dallas. In 2004, he unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. Senate against Barbara Mikulski. Then, in 2008, he unsuccessfully ran for Congress in Maryland's 1st congressional district, against incumbent Wayne Gilchrest and State Senator Andy Harris, losing the primary to Andy Harris. On August 5, 2013, Pipkin announced he would retire from the State Senate to attend graduate school.
Pipkin was elected to the State Senate in 2002 after defeating Democrat Walter M. Baker, who held that seat since 1979 and the chairman of the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee. Baker was the only state senator to vote against Pipkin's efforts to ban open bay dumping. Pipkin defeated Baker by 24 percentage points. Since his arrival to the Senate, Pipkin has authored legislation that include creating a task force to bring broadband internet to his eastern shore constituents; creating a committee that will ensure responsible handling of taxpayer dollars by the state government; and advocating for an elected school board in Cecil County to increase public involvement in public schools. Pipkin was re-elected in 2006 with 63.7% of the vote, and re-elected again in 2010. On August 5, 2013, Pipkin announced that he would retire from the State Senate, effective the following week, to pursue a graduate degree in sports management at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.
U.S. Senate campaign
In the 2004 U.S. Senate election, Pipkin ran unsuccessfully against incumbent Democratic senator Barbara Mikulski. He ran a series of ads during the campaign with his self-coined slogan "who knew" that attacked Mikulski's policies. This led Mikulski, who was already considered a favorite, to hold a debate with Pipkin.
Voting record
In 2003, E.J. Pipkin sponsored a bill to return a tax credit to employers who provide daycare for their employees. In 2004, he sponsored a permanent repeal of the estate tax in Maryland. In 2006, E.J. Pipkin sponsored a reduction in state property taxes and a reduction in income taxes.
As a resident of Stevensville, Pipkin himself has been affected by traffic congestion on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, and has fought to reduce the problem. In 2005, he proposed a set of bills, which ultimately failed to pass, in that year's Maryland General Assembly session, known as the "Bay Bridge Users' Bill of Rights". The bills would have, among other things, made various modifications to the governing board of the Maryland Transportation Authority, banned trucks from the bridge when one of its dual spans is carrying two-way traffic, and waived tolls whenever backups extended beyond a certain point. Later that year, Pipkin was one of the 22 citizens appointed by Governor Robert Ehrlich to serve on the Bay Bridge Task Force, to explore the possibility of building a new crossing of the Chesapeake Bay. In the 2006 Maryland General Assembly session, Pipkin once again tried to pass parts of the Bay Bridge Users' Bill of Rights, this time more successfully. Among the bills that passed that year included one that made various modifications to the governing board of the MdTA. Along with Delegate Mary Roe Walkup. However, that bill did not pass. Also during 2006, Pipkin worked collaboratively with MdTA to promote successful legislation that doubled the amount of violations fines that could be issued for overweight tractor-trailers crossing the bridge.
