Maryland Democrat Jamie Raskin Says Running for Senate an ‘Absolute Tossup’

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) said the possibility of a U.S. Senate bid is an “absolute tossup” and gave himself a June deadline to decide.

The House Oversight Committee ranking member who recently went through months of treatment for cancer (which is in remission) told Axios on Monday, “As the ranking Democrat on Oversight, I’m deeply invested in the work of the committee.”

“Now, and when we take the House back in 2024, we will have very important work going on…So I will have to weigh that against my interest in the Senate,” Raskin added.

He noted that former President Donald Trump is the “overwhelming favorite” in the 2024 presidential election to get the Republican nomination, which has made him “contemplate where [his] energies are best expended in the 2024 field.”

“I think we need to decide by June,” Raskin said. “I feel a little bit like Rip Van Winkle because I was just plugged into the chemo machines for five months … and then suddenly, a few days after I rang the bell, Sen. Cardin made his announcement.”

As the congressman noted, Cardin announced earlier this month that he would not seek reelection in 2024, ultimately setting off a scramble to fill the seat in the closely divided U.S. Senate. The 79-year-old Democrat senator, who turns 80 in October, said he would serve the remainder of his term. He and Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) are the state’s longest-serving elected officials after starting their careers in politics in 1967

Raskin said deciding to run is a “complex calculus,” acknowledging that the 2024 cycle is not the best year for the Democrats since 23 of the 33 Senate seats that are up for reelection are currently held by Democrats or left-leaning independents.

However, if the congressman runs, he appears to believe that he would be able to win, telling Axios, “I have only run campaigns in order to win them…There are some liberals who don’t care either way, and they don’t mind just singing the Joan Baez songs until it’s all over. But when I run, I run to win.”

But, while he waits and decides, two prominent people have already jumped into the race, his House colleague Rep. David Trone (D-MD) and Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks.

Jacob Bliss is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jbliss@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter @JacobMBliss.