Maryland Senator Ben Cardin files for re-election
Sen. Ben Cardin, a fixture in Maryland Democratic politics for more than five decades, filed Monday to run for a third term in the U.S. Senate.
Cardin, a former state lawmaker who went on to serve 10 terms in the House, has been building a campaign and fundraising operation for months — and was expected to run — but he had not previously directly answered questions about his intentions.
Known as an even-keeled lawmaker who enjoys getting into the weeds on policy, Cardin, 74, will face four other Democrats in the June 26 primary, most notably Chelsea Manning, the transgender Maryland woman who was convicted of sharing thousands of military documents with Wikileaks.
Manning, 30, is running a campaign to Cardin’s left politically, setting up a possible repeat of the themes that played out during the 2016 race between former Rep. Donna F. Edwards, who also ran to the left, and Sen. Chris Van Hollen, who ultimately captured the seat left open by the retirement of Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski.
Read more: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/bs-md-cardin-reelection-20180205-story.html