Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) announced that he is not running for Senate, ending monthslong speculation about his future after Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) announced he was retiring on May 1.
In a more than 1,000-word statement released Friday evening, Raskin opted to stay in and help Democrats take back control of the House. The Maryland Democrat has risen within the ranks of House Democrats, being the highest-ranking Democrat on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee. He has also risen to national recognition after leading former President Donald Trump‘s second impeachment trial in the Senate.
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“At this moment, I believe the best way for me to make the greatest difference in American politics in 2024 and beyond is this: to run for reelection to the House of Representatives in Maryland’s extraordinary 8th District,” he said in the statement.
In the statement, he listed a slew of reasons as to why he was staying in the House, including to become the chairman of House Oversight and to “build a Democratic Party that will not only defeat the kleptocrats and theocrats at home but the autocrats abroad.”
Since Cardin’s May 1 retirement, Raskin has consistently told reporters that he was considering all his options and openly wondered if he would have more impact as a junior senator or chairman of Oversight. And, with the Maryland Democratic Senate primary likely to be a competitive one, Raskin was not guaranteed a win, and it very well could have been the end of his political career.
“If I had two political careers, I would gladly give one of them to the year-and-a-half campaign for the Senate, a prospect that remains alluring to me because of my profound love for our state and the incredible people who live here,” he said. “I would even be open to restarting my political career as Senator #99 or 100 at the bottom of a new institution.”
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But, he continued, saying he has a different calling not to walk away from “the center of this fight in the people’s House and in the country.”
Currently, the top candidates in the Maryland Senate race include Rep. David Trone (D-MD), Montgomery County Councilman Will Jawando, and Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks, who has the support of Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD).
