Dutch Ruppersberger III was born January 31, 1946 in Baltimore, Maryland. Ruppersberger attended Baltimore City College and the University of Maryland, College Park. He earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Baltimore School of Law. He was elected to the Baltimore County Council in 1985 and was twice chosen as Council Chairman. In 1994 and again in 1998, he was elected Baltimore County Executive. Dutch Ruppersberger was first elected to Congress in 2002.