Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) has decided to not run for Sen. Barbara Mikulski’s (D-MD) Senate seat.
“Senator Mikulski has done an outstanding job representing Maryland in the U.S. Senate for nearly 30 years,” O’Malley said in a statement on Tuesday. “I am hopeful and confident that very capable public servants with a desire to serve in the Senate will step up as candidates for this important office. I will not be one of them.”
On Monday, Mikulski announced that she would not run for re-election in 2016 and immediately Democrats started to produce shortlists of who could run for Senate, among them Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Rep. Donna Edwards (D-MD), and O’Malley.
O’Malley, however, has taken steps suggesting he’s planning to run for president in 2016. His decision to forego a Senate run, despite trailing former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (D) in polling, suggests he’s still set on that.
