Riots loom over Md. Senate race

The death of Freddie Gray under controversial circumstances and the resulting violence loom over the Maryland Senate race.

The 25-year-old black man died while in the custody of the Baltimore Police Department on April 19, provoking protests and violent riots in the city. The Justice Department has opened criminal and civil rights investigations. 

As of press time Monday evening, protesters were clashing with police in the streets after Gray’s funeral.  Live footage on CNN showed police being hit with rocks and individuals destroying a police car, while others looted a CVS Pharmacy.

Maryland Democrats say the incident has thrust Rep. Elijah Cummings into a leadership role that could impact his decision whether or not to run for Senate while also increasing the likelihood that a candidate from Baltimore will enter the race. 

“This is going to be a very big issue, especially in the black community,” said one longtime Democratic consultant in the state who noted that about one in three Marylanders is black.

So far, Reps. Chris Van Hollen and Donna Edwards, both of whom hail from districts in the Washington, D.C., suburbs, are the only official candidates in the race to replace retiring Sen. Barbara Mikulski, but at least a half-dozen other Democrats in the state, many from the Baltimore area, are considering bids.

Party insiders had thought it likely that a candidate from Baltimore might join the race; the Gray incident, they say, makes it nearly inevitable.

“You’re going to have a candidate from Baltimore,” said another longtime Democratic strategist in the state. “The timing of it is the only question that remains.”

That political spotlight is now on Cummings, who is expected to decide on his political future in the next few weeks. 

Cummings, whose House district represents more than half of the city of Baltimore, has emerged as a leading voice nationally in demanding justice for Gray.

Speaking Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Cummings called relations between citizens and the police “the civil rights cause for this generation.” On Monday, he gave an impassioned speech at Gray’s funeral.

“I’ve often said that our children are the living messages we send to the future we will never see,” Cummings said, his voice trembling. “But now our children are sending us to a future they will never see. There is something wrong with that picture.”

State Democrats say many elected officials — including Van Hollen and Edwards — have been quieter than might be expected on the Gray incident in deference to Cummings.

Though he did not attend Gray’s funeral on Monday, Van Hollen wrote a letter to then-Attorney General Eric Holder, commending the Justice Department for quickly opening an investigation into the case.

Some were surprised Edwards had not commented publicly or released any statements on the incident. An email to her office on Monday was not returned.

Still, political watchers in the state have no idea whether Cummings is even gearing up for a Senate run.

If he were to run, candidate Cummings would place in the top tier, pulling heavily from a strong base of support in his hometown. His running would severely damage Edwards’s nascent candidacy by pulling from black voters in the state who may be giving her a look.

Earlier this month, the Cummings campaign leaked a poll that showed him holding a healthy lead over both Van Hollen and Edwards. The poll also showed Cummings with a strong 63 percent favorability rating, far better than either of the two declared candidates.

But there are also ample reasons for him to stay in the House.

As ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, Cummings is the last line of defense for Democrats against GOP investigations into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a critical role heading into 2016.

And if Republicans take the White House in 2016 and maintain control of the House and the Senate, Cummings’s position on Oversight could take on an additional level of importance as Republicans inevitably seek to roll back President Obama’s reforms.

Democrats in Maryland say many candidates are waiting to see what Cummings decides, with most, if not all of them, likely to stay out if he enters the Senate race. Democrats, however, underscore his nearing decision will be made independent of the Gray riots. But if he passes, it could present an opening for a host of candidates from the Baltimore area.

Democrats in the state say Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, the black mayor of Baltimore, would no longer be one of those candidates. The Gray incident, they say, has effectively ended Senate prospects that she already had seemed reluctant about. 

Rawlings-Blake, a rising political star — she’s secretary of the Democratic National Committee and vice president of the U.S. National Conference of Mayors — has been rumored to be the favorite of Mikulski, a Baltimore-native, to replace her. 

But liberals in the state say it would be impossible for her to get into the race with protests outside of City Hall, riots outside of Camden Yards and the high level of unease in the city.

And while officials are publicly supporting her handling of the situation — Van Hollen applauded her leadership in his letter to Holder — the story plays into existing criticisms of her relations with the city’s police. 

Even before the Gray case, Rawlings-Blake was criticized for the high number of incidents of police brutality in the city and for acting too slowly in moving to mandate that police officers wear body cameras.

Party strategists say her attention will likely turn to reelection in 2016, and fending off potential challengers from the left that may be emboldened by the unrest.

Rawlings-Blake has said that she wants someone from Baltimore in the race, and if both she and Cummings pass, there are still a handful of local-area candidates mulling bids.

Rep. John Sarbanes has high name recognition in the state because of his father, former Sen. Paul Sarbanes. Democratic voters could also be intrigued by Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, who grew up in Baltimore and whose district is one-third black.

Benjamin Jealous, the former head of the NAACP, hails from Baltimore and has raised his profile some in the wake of the Gray incident. And former Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend also calls Baltimore County home and is expected to get into the race soon.