Senate races

Cummings passes on Senate run

by Lisa Hagen and Mike Lillis 02/02/16 11:26 AM ET

Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) on Tuesday said he will not run for Senate and will instead seek reelection.

{mosads}Cummings ended months-long speculation about whether he’d run for retiring Sen. Barbara Mikulski’s (D-Md.) seat. He made the long-awaited announcement a day before Maryland’s deadline to file as a candidate.

“I have given a great deal of thought as to how I can best serve the people of the Baltimore region, the people of Maryland and people across our great nation,” Cummings said in a statement.

“I believe that I can best serve the people of our city, our state and our nation by continuing my work in Congress,” he said, adding that he wants to help lead a “united effort to elect progressives across the board — rather than [focus] upon one single Senate race.”

The 11-term congressman has risen to national prominence as top the Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, where he sparred with the former chairman, Rep. Darrel Issa (R-Calif.), over a host of initiatives championed by President Obama.

Cummings’s star rose further when House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) tapped him in 2014 to be ranking member of the special House committee investigating the deadly 2012 attacks on a U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya.

The Democrats, Cummings included, opposed the creation of the investigative panel, arguing that it was designed solely to harm former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s White House bid. But the Democrats agreed to participate, saying they could provide a voice of defense for Clinton and prevent the proceedings from becoming one-sided attack sessions. Cummings’s experience countering Issa made him well-suited for the job.

Reps. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Donna Edwards (D-Md.) are vying for the Democratic nomination and are locked in a heated primary battle. The party is expected to keep control of the seat.

“Congressman Cummings is a fierce advocate for our state. He has relentlessly fought back against Tea Party attacks on our president and the progress we’ve made for working families,” Edwards said. “Maryland is lucky to have him in the Congress, and I am grateful that I can call him my friend and colleague.”