In 2016 Rep. Chris Van Hollen ran for Senate, successfully, when Barbara Mikulski retired. That opened up Van Hollen’s safe blue House seat (MD-08) and drew 10 Democrats, including state Senator and constitutional law professor Jamie Raskin, Chris Matthews' wife Kathleen, state Delegate Ana Sol Gutierrez, Will Jawando, a DC bureaucrat who jumped from job to job, and a shady and very rich beer and wine salesman, David Trone. The Washington Post endorsed Matthews’ wife because they said Raskin was too progressive. In the primary, she came in third with 23.9% after Trone’s $13,414,225 in self-funing (27.1%) and the winner, Jamie Raskin (33.6%). No-one else cracked into double digits.
Raskin has since distinguished himself as one of the all around best and most consequential members of Congress and— as The Post feared— one of the most progressive.
In 2018, Trone found another district to run in, MD-06— John Delaney having retired and selling Trone his endorsement— and he buried all the other primary contenders with $18,000,000 of his own. He has been a heavy donor to both Democratic and Republican politicians so no one was surprised when he decided to join the corrupt conservative New Dems.
There were persistent rumors that Ben Cardin would not be running for reelection and Trone— as well as others— were ready. Trone has already hired Don Morrocco to run his campaign and Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks— the EMILY’s List candidate— has hired David Chase, who recently oversaw the botched Ohio Senate campaign of Tim Ryan. That guy we mentioned in passing above who was one of the single digit also-rans in the 2016 campaign, Will Jawando, was yesterday the first to jump into the Senate race. He’s a Montgomery County councilmember and he already had a professional video ready to go and a campaign manager as well, Michaela Kurinsky-Malos. Others talking about running are Baltimore County Executive Johnny O (Olszewski)
So far this is being covered as a very identity-politics kind of race. Alsobrooks is running as the first Black woman to be a Maryland senator, Jawando Maryland’s first biracial senator, Trone, Maryland’s richest senator and Jamie… um… I guess Maryland’s most brilliant senator (and still the most progressive).
Can we clone Raskin? So we can have him in both the house and the senate?
maryland and america need a party of those who will act like raskin talks.
short of a new party, nothing will ever change for the better. if Bernie can't make the democraps better, nobody can. the party won't allow it.