Rep. Jamie Raskin Says He Hopes To Decide On Senate Run By Fourth Of July

The Maryland Democrat said he is still considering whether to join the 2024 race to replace retiring Sen. Ben Cardin.
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Rep. Jamie Raskin said Sunday that he will decide whether to run for Senate before the Fourth of July, gearing up to potentially become the latest House Democrat to announce a Senate campaign.

The Maryland Democrat — who gained national attention for serving on the committee investigating the events of Jan. 6, 2021, and for his role in former President Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial — told CNN’s “State of the Union” that he’s still mulling whether to enter the race to replace retiring Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin.

“I have not decided. I love the House of Representatives. I love the people I serve with, and I love being in the people’s house,” Raskin said. “But, as some of my House colleagues have pointed out, these Senate seats only open up every 25 or 30 years.”

“A lot of people are encouraging me to check it out, because there are certain constitutional functions the Senate has that the House doesn’t have, like advice and consent, Supreme Court nominations, judicial confirmations — a lot of things that I’m interested in,” he continued. “And that’s why I’m seriously considering it, but I have not decided.”

Raskin said he’s hoping to make a decision on whether to run before July 4, adding that the Democratic primary for Cardin’s Senate seat is still 11 months away in May 2024.

If he chooses to run, Raskin would likely be the most progressive candidate in the Democratic primary for Cardin’s seat. The primary race already includes former prosecutor and Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks, Total Wine & More co-founder Rep. David Trone and Montgomery County Councilmember Will Jawando.

Last week, Rep. 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 female lawmaker since Kamala Harris resigned to take her place as vice president in January 2021.

Hoyer, a Democrat who also represents Maryland, served as the 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 so I have talked to him. I have talked to all of my colleagues about it,” Raskin said of his potential Senate run. “I mean, we have got awesome political leaders in Maryland, and I would not run against anybody else.”

“I mean, it’s totally based on the experience I’ve had trying to defend our democracy and our freedom and the Bill of Rights against the Trump movement, which I think is such a danger,” he added.

Raskin has served in the House since 2017, and before that in the Maryland state Senate from 2007 to 2016.

The House Democrat said in April that he entered 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.”

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