Rushern Baker III, a former Prince George’s County executive, will run for the role again following the resignation of Sen.-elect Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD). His announcement will be given at a press conference on Tuesday at 11 a.m.
A special election will be held to determine who will fill Alsobrooks’s seat for the last two years of the term. Tara Jackson is currently serving as the acting county executive.
Baker, a Democrat, held the seat from 2010 to 2018 but is choosing to run after saying he was “urged” to do so.
Baker has been in politics for years. He represented Prince George’s County in the Maryland House of Delegates from 1994 to 2003 and followed it with eight years as county executive. He left his position after losing Maryland’s race for governor in 2018.
During his eight years of service to Prince George’s County, Baker touted his creation of 6,000 new jobs, the training of 40,000 workers in emerging industries, and a $50 million economic development incentive. Major projects began to break ground around the Largo, New Carrollton, Suitland, and Branch Avenue Metro stations as transit flourished and small businesses began to see economic growth.
Other projects, such as the $1.5 billion MGM Casino, created 3,500 jobs and fueled economic growth, while the Transforming Neighborhoods Initiative brought down violent crime.
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Baker might have won the gubernatorial race if he had not stood by his handpicked schools chief, Kevin Maxwell. Parents and the school board wanted Maxwell gone after discovering a school aide was molesting students and that the district lost a major federal Head Start grant.
With a new commitment to taking up his old post, it’s up to Marylanders to decide whether Baker is right for the role again.
