John Peter Spyros Sarbanes is an American attorney and politician who served as the U.S. Representative for Maryland's 3rd congressional district from 2007 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented a district that included Annapolis, all of Howard County, and portions of Anne Arundel and Carroll counties. Born on May 22, 1962, in Baltimore, Maryland, Sarbanes comes from a prominent political family; his father, Paul Sarbanes, was a long-serving U.S. Senator from Maryland. Sarbanes graduated from Princeton University and later earned a law degree from Harvard Law School, with a Fulbright Scholarship to Greece in between. He began his legal career clerking for Judge J. Frederick Motz on the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, then spent 18 years at Venable LLP in Baltimore, where he chaired the healthcare practice group from 2000 to 2006, representing hospitals and senior living providers. He also collaborated with public interest organizations like the Public Justice Center.

Entering politics in 2006, Sarbanes won the congressional seat previously held by his father, focusing on issues like healthcare, education, and environmental protection. He prioritized public education, drawing from his own part-time experience in the field over seven years. In October 2023, Sarbanes announced he would not seek reelection in 2024, retiring after nearly two decades in Congress. Post-retirement, he serves as Distinguished Practitioner in Residence at the SNF Agora Institute for Global Democracy at Johns Hopkins University, continuing his engagement in public policy and democratic institutions.