Paul G. Pinsky

Paul G. Pinsky (born March 5, 1950) is an American educator, politician from Maryland. A member of the Democratic Party, he is currently the Director of the Maryland Energy Administration. He was previously a member of the Maryland Senate, representing District 22 in Prince George's County.

Pinsky was born in Camden, New Jersey on March 5, 1950, where he attended Moorestown Friends School. He left New Jersey to attend George Washington University in Washington, D.C., where he earned a B.A. degree in public affairs in 1972. While at GWU, Pinsky attended protests in Washington, D.C. that opposed the Vietnam War and the apartheid in South Africa and supporting women's rights. He and his wife attended a national labor demonstration in the 1980s. After graduating, Pinsky worked as an educator for Prince George's County Public Schools from 1976 to 1995 and worked as an organizer for the Maryland State Teachers Association until 2014. From 1983 to 1987, he served as president of the Prince George's County Educators' Association, a labor union that represents over 6,000 professional school employees.

In 1986, Pinsky was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates, defeating incumbent David Bird in the Democratic primary election.

Pinsky has been a member of Progressive Maryland since 2001.

Pinsky was a member of the Maryland General Assembly from 1987 to 2023, first being elected to the Maryland House of Delegates.

In 1994, Pinsky challenged incumbent Democratic senator Thomas P. O'Reilly. During the primary election, O'Reilly resigned from the state senate to take an appointed post on the state Workers' Compensation Commission. Following his resignation, Democratic Party officials and aides of Senate President Thomas V. "Mike" Miller sought to appoint someone other than Pinsky to fill his vacancy, worrying that he would be "too liberal" and not enough of a team player. Pinsky was appointed to serve the rest of his term. He defeated Hyattsville city councilmember Charles J. Kenny Jr. in the Democratic primary, receiving 74 percent of the vote.

Pinsky has been a member of the Maryland State Senate since 1994. Along with state senator Delores G. Kelley, he is the longest serving member of the Maryland Senate.

In February 2019, Maryland Republicans condemned comments made by Pinsky during a debate on a bill that would return control of school calendars to local school boards as an effort to link governor Larry Hogan to former Alabama governor George Wallace. In an interview later, Pinsky said that he had nothing to apologize for, saying "If the senator conjures something in his head, so be it."