Maryland state Sen. Jamie Raskin was projected by the Associated Press late Tuesday to be the winner in the Democratic primary for Maryland’s 8th Congressional District seat in race to replace Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), who launched a Senate bid this year.
The race broke records with the money spent by the many campaigns — including the millions of dollars one of Raskin’s rivals had poured into his own bid — and the field featured an array of notable candidates.
In addition to serving in the Maryland legislature, Raskin is a law professor at American University.
The district covers a wealthy suburb outside of Washington that’s home to many political power players. It also leans Democratic, so the winner of Tuesday’s primary is expected to be the frontrunner in the general election race.
The Democratic primary was one of the closely-watched congressional races in the country, and also the most expensive. The crowded field spent a total of $14 million in the race since last year, according a Baltimore Sun report of FEC data.
Nine million dollars came from one of the candidates himself, wine distributor magnate David Trone, who mostly self-funded his campaign.
The Democratic field also featured Kathleen Matthews, a former local TV news reporter and wife of Chris Matthews. She and Raskin were considered the favorites before Trone jumped in just before the deadline. The other candidates included Kumar Barve, Will Jawando, and Joel Rubin, all current or former Obama administration officials.
Raskin is a great candidate. Spending a fraction of what Trone spent, he won handily.
BTW, we’re not a Democratic “leaning” district, we’re very Democratic. This is a blue blue region of a blue state. He’ll win the general election without a doubt.
Nice to see a decent candidate winning plus the added bonus of seeing Mrs. Tweety Matthews losing!
Yes, it is always encouraging and uplifting when a genuinely excellent individual chooses to run and then WINS! Senator Raskin promises to be a superb Congressman with a very, very bright future. Senator Cardin will not be there forever. A big MAZEL TOV to Senator Raskin!
I’ve been following Raskin for the past 20 odd years since he was always quoted regarding legal issues or SCOTUS. I would guess he gets a seat on Judiciary. A debate vs. lost cause Trey Gowdy would be illuminating.
I am a Northern Virginia voter who was pulling for Kathleen Matthews. I enjoyed her a whole lot more on TV than I ever did her husband. I am thankful, though, that Maryland Democrats elected a very qualified candidate.