Rep. Jamie Raskin waves while serving as grand marshal of the Takoma Park 4th of July Parade. Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) said Friday he will run for re-election to his House seat in 2024 rather than running to succeed retiring Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.).
Why it matters: The high-profile ranking member of the House Oversight Committee and former Jan. 6 committee member would have been an instant frontrunner for the 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.