Raskin opts out of US Senate run, but says prospect ‘remains alluring’
By Aaron Pellish and Piper Hudspeth Blackburn, CNN
(CNN) — Maryland Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin announced Friday that he will not run for Senate in 2024, instead choosing to seek reelection to the House.
Raskin had previously said he was weighing a possible Senate run to fill the seat vacated by Sen. Ben Cardin, who will retire in 2025 after serving three terms.
“I am profoundly grateful not only to those who have encouraged me on this exciting path but also to those from all over Maryland who have strongly encouraged me to run for the U.S. Senate seat being left vacant by Senator Ben Cardin,” Raskin said in a lengthy statement.
“If these were normal times, I am pretty sure that this is what I would be announcing now,” he continued. “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 as well as human rights and opportunity for people all over the world.”
The four-term congressman noted that he believes “the best way for (him) to make the greatest difference in American politics in 2024 and beyond is this: to run for reelection to the House of Representatives in Maryland’s extraordinary 8th District.”
Raskin conceded that the prospect of running for the US Senate “remains alluring,” but he pointed to “a different and more urgent calling right now,” citing his advocacy for pro-democracy reforms in the US and abroad.
“I cannot walk away from the center of this fight in the people’s House and in the country,” he said. “We are still in the fight of our lives, the fight for democracy and freedom and for the survival of humanity.”
Raskin said he would “do whatever” is needed to help elect a Democrat to fill Cardin’s seat and thanked friends, family and advisors – who he said made “compelling arguments” as he contemplated his decision.
US Rep. David Trone, Montgomery County Councilmember Will Jawando, and Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks are among the Democrats who have jumped into the race to fill Cardin’s seat. In June, Alsobrooks received an endorsement from former House Democratic leader Steny Hoyer.
Asked by CNN’s Dana Bash last month whether Hoyer’s endorsement would affect his decision to run, Raskin said he had talked with the senior member of Maryland’s congressional delegation, calling him a “friend.”
“We have got awesome political leaders in Maryland, and I would not run against anybody else,” Raskin said at the time. “It’s totally based on the experience I have 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.”
Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, gained party prominence in recent years as the lead impeachment manager for former President Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial and a member of the House select committee that investigated the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.
After disclosing a cancer diagnosis late last year, Raskin has said he’s received a “clean bill of health” and is in remission following his treatment
This story has been updated with additional details.
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