Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), a leading progressive who rose to national fame as one of the orchestrators of the second impeachment trial against former President Donald Trump, said Friday he will not run for his home state’s vacant Senate seat, and argued that his role in the House of Representatives was too crucial to relinquish.
Raskin would have been a front-runner in the race to succeed outgoing Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), although not necessarily an all-time favorite. The two main candidates for the seat are now Angela Alsobrooks, Executive Director of Prince George’s County, and Total Wine co-founder and current Representative. David Trone (D-Md.)
“I am deeply grateful not only to those who have encouraged me along this exciting journey, but also to those from across Maryland who have strongly encouraged me to run for Senator Ben Cardin’s vacant seat in the U.S. Senate,” Raskin said wrote in a long statement. “If these were normal times I’m pretty sure I would be announcing this now. But these are not normal times and we are still fighting our lives for democratic institutions, liberty and fundamental social progress in America.”
Raskin is now the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, where he has opposed efforts by committee chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) to investigate President Joe Biden and Biden’s son Hunter. He has also worked with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee to hire summer grantees to help work on congressional campaigns and has become a sought-after campaign deputy.
Raskin would have been the clear favorite of progressive institutions in the Democratic primary, while Alsobrooks and Trone are broadly considered mainstream Liberals.
Alsobrooks has garnered the support of much of the state’s political establishment, including MPs Steny Hoyer and Kweisi Mfume. Trone, meanwhile, relies on his immense personal wealth and connections to liberal groups to further his own campaign.
Maryland is a heavily Democratic state, and the winner of the Democratic primary will almost certainly win the general election.