Rep. jamie raskin He said Sunday that he will decide whether to run for the Senate by July 4, preparing to potentially become the last House Democrat to announce a Senate campaign.
The Maryland Democrat who gained national attention for serving on the committee investigating the events of January 6, 2021 and for his role in the second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump. he told CNN’s “State of the Union” program who is still considering whether to enter the race to replace retired Democratic Senator Ben Cardin.
“I haven’t decided. I love the House of Representatives. I love the people I serve with and I love being in people’s homes,” Raskin said. “But as some of my House colleagues have pointed out, these seats in the Senate they only open every 25 or 30 years.”
“Many people encourage me to check it out, because there are certain constitutional functions that the Senate has that the House does not have, like advice and consent, Supreme Court nominations, judicial confirmations, many things that I am interested in,” he continued. “And so I’m seriously considering it, but I haven’t decided.”
Raskin said he hopes to make a decision on whether to run by July 4, adding that the Democratic primary for Cardin’s Senate seat is still 11 months away in May 2024.
If he decides to run, Raskin would likely be the most progressive candidate in the Democratic primary for Cardin’s seat. The primary race already includes former Prince George’s County prosecutor and executive Angela Alsobrooks, Total Wine & More co-founder Rep. David Trone and Montgomery County Councilman Will Jawando.
Last week, Representative Steny Hoyer announced he was officially endorsing Alsobrooks, elevating her as the Democratic Party’s best chance to elect a black woman to the Senate — a chamber that has not had a black lawmaker since Kamala Harris resigned to take her place as vice president in January 2021.
Hoyer, a Democrat who also represents Maryland, served as House Majority Leader when his party controlled the chamber, making his endorsement valuable in the Senate race.
“Well, obviously, Steny Hoyer is my friend, and that’s why I’ve talked to him. I’ve talked to all my colleagues about it,” Raskin said of his potential Senate run. “I mean, we have amazing political leaders in Maryland, and I wouldn’t run against anyone else.”
“I mean, it’s totally based on the experience that I’ve had trying to defend our democracy and our freedom and the Bill of Rights against the Trump movement, which I think is a huge danger,” he added.
Raskin has served in the House since 2017 and prior to that in the Maryland State Senate from 2007 to 2016.
The House Democrat said in April that went into remission after undergoing treatment for a “serious but curable form of cancer” called diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, a common type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma found in a person’s lymphatic system. Raskin said Sunday that he now has a “clean bill of health.”