J. Joseph Curran, Maryland's third Lieutenant
Governor since the office was reestablished in
1970, brings more than twenty-four years of legis-
lative experience to the State's second highest
elected office.

Lieutenant Governor Curran began his career in
public service in 1958, when he won election to the
House of Delegates. Although it was his first entry
into the political field and he was still a law student
at the time, Mr. Curran received the largest
number of votes cast for a House of Delegates
candidate in Baltimore City. His election contin-
ued a long family tradition of public service. His
father, the late J. Joseph Curran, Sr., served twenty
years on the Baltimore City Council. A brother,
Martin (Mike) Curran, was named to the Council
vacancy created by the father's death in 1977 and
has twice been elected to that post. During his
term in the House of Delegates, young Joseph
Curran served on the Education Committee.

In 1962 he was elected to the State Senate, where
he quickly gained a reputation as a leader on
educational and judicial issues. He served on the
Judicial Proceedings Committee and was elected
chairman in 1967, a position he held for sixteen
years.

During Mr. Curran's tenure in the General
Assembly, he sponsored or was the leading spokes-
man for a number of significant bills. In addition to
working for the creation of the Court of Special
Appeals and the District Court system, he consis-
tently sought to improve the operation of the
courts and the correctional system. He supported
tougher drug laws and sponsored the bill outlawing
drug paraphernalia. Mr. Curran consistently sup-
ported tougher drunk driving laws and sponsored
the handgun permit law. An advocate of equal
rights, Mr. Curran sponsored legislation to mod-
ernize Maryland's divorce and alimony laws as
well as reforms for adoption and guardianship
laws. He sponsored the law to protect victims of
domestic violence. The Maryland Higher Educa-
tion Loan Program, which Mr, Curran first spon-
sored as a member of the House, was passed under
his leadership while he was a member of the State
Senate.

As Lieutenant Governor, Mr. Curran serves as
legislative liaison for Administration bills. Ap-
pointed by Governor Hughes, he chairs the Task
Force on the Drinking Driver, the Task Force to
Review the Defense of Insanity, the Committee to
Study Flexibility for Higher Education, the Crimi-
nal Justice Coordinating Council, and the Task
Force on Victims' Services. Consistent with his