Rep. Elijah Cummings, who represents Maryland’s 7th Congressional District, leads fellow Democrats Donna Edwards and Chris Van Hollen in the Maryland Senate race according to a Washington Post-University of Maryland poll released on October 16th. The poll, which was conducted from October 8th to October 11th, finds Cummings leading a three-way race with 33 percent of the vote. Congresswoman Donna Edwards (MD-4) and Congressman Chris Van Hollen (MD-8) both poll at 20 percent support, well behind the 10-term Baltimore Congressman.
Edwards and Van Hollen have officially announced their candidacies. Cummings, on the other hand, has not yet entered the Senate race. However, the Washington Post poll may encourage the Congressman to declare his candidacy, as he would immediately become the favorite to win the race.
Cummings is well known because he is the ranking Democratic member of the Benghazi Select Committee. He has been an outspoken critic of the sham investigation being conducted by Republicans on that committee. After Kevin McCarthy essentially admitted the Benghazi investigation was a political stunt to derail Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, Cummings issued a statement blasting McCarthy:
This stunning concession from Rep. McCarthy reveals the truth that Republicans never dared admit in public: the core Republican goal in establishing the Benghazi Committee was always to damage Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign and never to conduct an even-handed search for the facts. It is shameful that Republicans have used this tragedy and the deaths of our fellow Americans for political gain. Republicans have blatantly abused their authority in Congress by spending more than $4.5 million in taxpayer funds to pay for a political campaign against Hillary Clinton.
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The Baltimore Congressman also gave a stirring eulogy at Freddie Gray’s funeral, remembering the young man who was killed in police custody. He encapsulated much of the city’s grief with the line:
I’ve often said that our children are the living messages we send to a future we will never see. But now our children are sending us to a future they will never see. There’s something wrong with that picture.
In Maryland, the Democrats can’t go wrong in the Democratic Senate primary. Congresswoman Donna Edwards and Congressman Chris Van Hollen both have solid liberal voting records, and each have been outstanding public servants. When it comes to recruiting strong Democratic candidates, Maryland has an abundance of riches to choose from. Nevertheless, if Congressman Cummings decides to run for the U.S. Senate, he would be exceedingly tough to beat. His passionate energy and his dedicated commitment to serving his constituents makes him a formidable candidate, and should he win, he would have a commanding presence in the U.S. Senate.
Keith Brekhus is a progressive American who currently resides in Red Lodge, Montana. He is co-host for the Liberal Fix radio show. He holds a Master’s Degree in Sociology from the University of Missouri. In 2002, he ran for Congress as a Green Party candidate in the state of Missouri. In 2014, he worked as a field organizer for Democrat Ann Kirkpatrick’s successful re-election bid in Arizona’s 1st Congressional District. He can be followed on Twitter @keithbrekhus or on Facebook.
