By Adam Pagnucco.
Congressman Jamie Raskin, who represents Congressional District 8, has announced that he is not running for U.S. Senate. His statement is reprinted in full below.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 7, 2023
July 7, 2023
Dear Friends and Supporters Across America:
Nothing matters to me more in the 2024 cycle than winning a blowout victory for the party of democracy and freedom.
We Democrats may not be perfect but we fight hard every day for the Constitution and the common good of the people.
Meantime, Donald Trump and the dangerous forces of authoritarianism he commands have no declared policy agenda other than exacting revenge against his enemies. Everything he seeks in public office and public life is for his own aggrandizement and enrichment. All he has produced in government is corruption and polarization, the demolition of public institutions and values that generations of Americans have built, the repression of civil liberties, the colossal waste of resources on vainglorious and pernicious projects, and the spread of disinformation, hatred and suffering. This is the exact opposite of what our country needs. But Trump has proven himself time and again willing to lie, cheat, and steal elections–to fabricate votes and incite violence against the Union in order to have his way.
Trump and his cult followers must be stopped in their political tracks.
We urgently need to safeguard the rights of women with a national law protecting choice. We need to update the Voting Rights Act to shut down voter suppression and disenfranchisement all over America.
We must continue the progress we have made on public infrastructure, health care, and prescription drugs. We need common-sense laws enacted on gun safety. We need to ramp up efforts to fight the climate emergency, and act in time to rescue this planet for the generations to come.
We need to stop the rollback of democracy and to start rolling forward again. This means not only protecting the voting rights of the people, but putting a stop to gerrymandering, adopting a national popular vote for president, passing statehood for the disenfranchised millions of Americans living in Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico, and dismantling the dark money corruption of our politics, our government and our Supreme Court. This is why we need to elect sweeping Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress and secure a landslide for Joe Biden and the Democrats in 2024.
So where can I best serve in this momentous nationwide struggle to defend constitutional democracy and national progress? This is the question I have faced as I consider how best to advance the interests and values of our beloved Maryland while working to safeguard our future as a democratic nation.
The times have found us, as Tom Paine said, and there is no escaping the responsibility we have in office now not just to the specific people and communities we represent but to the entire country.
At this moment, I believe the best way for me to make the greatest difference in American politics in 2024 and beyond is this: to run for reelection to the House of Representatives in Maryland’s extraordinary 8th District; and
to mobilize thousands of Democracy Summer Fellows and raise millions of dollars and everyone’s spirit to fortify and build up Democratic majorities in the House and Senate; and
to go anywhere in America where President Biden, Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and other Americans ask me to go to campaign for a runaway victory for the party of democracy, freedom, justice and progress; and
to become the Chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee in a Democratic Congress, working to use our resources to guarantee the rights and freedoms of the people, to secure the integrity of every branch of government; to expose and root out corruption, waste and violation of the Constitution and our ethics laws; and to mentor and support the remarkable junior Members I have worked to assemble on our Committee over this first Congress as our Ranking Member; and
to spread constitutional literacy and understanding throughout America by teaching a nationwide on line constitutional law class to anyone who wants to join me; and
to build a Democratic Party that will not only defeat the kleptocrats and theocrats at home but the autocrats abroad, and will effectively confront the overarching challenges of our time: climate emergency, the aggressive spread of disinformation and propaganda, the erosion of the rule of law, and the uncontrolled rise of artificial intelligence which can become either an instrument of progress for our people or a power tool of the dictators and bullies.
This is an agenda that–in addition to running what I think is the best constituent service district office in all of Congress–will keep me busy through the campaign and the next Congress and for a long time after that.
I am profoundly grateful not only to those who have encouraged me on this exciting path but also to those from all over Maryland who have strongly encouraged me to run for the U.S. Senate seat being left vacant by Senator Ben Cardin.
If these were normal times, I am pretty sure that this is what I would be announcing now.
But these are not normal times and we are still in the fight of our lives for democratic institutions, freedom and basic social progress in America as well as human rights and opportunity for people all over the world.
If I had two political careers, I would gladly give one of them to the year-and-a-half campaign for the Senate, a prospect that remains alluring to me because of my profound love for our state and the incredible people who live here. I would even be open to restarting my political career as Senator #99 or 100 at the bottom of a new institution.
But I have a different and more urgent calling right now and I cannot walk away from the center of this fight in the people’s House and in the country. We are still in the fight of our lives, the fight for democracy and freedom and for the survival of humanity.
I have received compelling arguments from friends, family and political leaders and supporters in our state on all sides of this question, and I thank you for your wise counsel and insight. I want to assure everyone that I will do whatever I need to do to see to it that our new Senator will be a Democrat and that our Senator will be a strong true-blue Democrat with broad support in our state.
Thank you for your solidarity and encouragement through thick and thin. We have many great battles to wage and to win together and I will be there for all of them right by your side.
Sending you solidarity, gratitude and nothing but great high hopes for America,
Jamie Raskin