Raskin passes on run for Maryland Senate seat

• His decision to forgo a run clears the way for several other major candidates in a crowded Democratic primary.

Driving the news: In a lengthy statement released Friday evening, Raskin said running for re-election is the “best way for me to make the greatest difference in American politics in 2024.”

• Raskin told Axios in May, coming off of months of treatment for cancer that had just gone into remission, that he was an "absolute tossup" on a Senate run, citing his work on the Oversight Committee as a key factor.
• "I have a different and more urgent calling right now and I cannot walk away from the center of this fight in the people’s House and in the country," he said on Friday.

The intrigue: Raskin said in the statement on Friday he is "pretty sure" he would have run for Senate in "normal times."

• "But these are not normal times and we are still in the fight of our lives for democratic institutions, freedom and basic social progress in America[.]"

The state of play: That leaves several other prominent Democratic candidates currently vying for the heavily blue seat.

• Prince George's County Executive Angela Alsobrooks' campaign said Friday it raised $1.73 million in the seven weeks since launching.
• There's also Rep. David Trone (D-Md.), a swing-district member whose fortune from co-founding Total Wine & More could make him a formidable self-funder.