David Trone enters high profile Maryland 2024 Senate race
Rachel Schilke
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Rep. David Trone (D-MD) is running for Maryland‘s open Senate seat in 2024, after Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) announced that he will not seek reelection next November.
Trone announced his bid for the Senate on Thursday. He is entering an already busy primary, after local lawmaker Will Jawando launched his campaign on Tuesday.
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In a campaign video, Trone said he is running for Senate because the “clock is ticking.” He focused on the rising number of deaths related to fentanyl and mental illness, as well as incarceration rates between black men and white men.
“Is any of this acceptable to you? To anyone? Not to me,” Trone said in the video.
The Maryland representative said the state will “certainly” nominate a more progressive candidate, as speculation surrounds Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) and Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks as potential candidates as well.
“On social issues, all the candidates that announce will be in the same position,” Trone said to NBC News. “The difference really is about getting things done. That’s what people are just tired of — politicians that want to be on CNN and MSNBC and talk, talk, talk but not get something accomplished. And getting something accomplished is the bottom line and I think life has prepared me to do that.”
Trone was first elected to Congress in 2018 with the help of his fortune earned through his wine retail company, Total Wine & More. He has spent millions of dollars on his past campaigns, but declined to say what the bill for this race will be.
“We really don’t know where this race is going to go as far as what it’s going to cost. But we’re certainly going to be there and be willing to put in the dollars necessary to bring it home,” Trone said.
He added that he does not take money from “anybody,” including PACs, lobbyists, and corporations.
“I know I won’t be the establishment choice, but hey, why start now? I’ve always been about representing you, not them,” Trone said in his campaign video.
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Trone and Jawando will run to replace Cardin, who has held the Senate seat since 2006. The seat is expected to lean Democratic, but it is also expected to attract a competitive primary field to replace the three-term incumbent. With Trone and possibly Raskin’s entry into the Senate race, it could also lead to a fierce battle for several open House seats.
Cardin announced on Monday that he will not be running for reelection, marking the end of a decades-long career that began in the Maryland House of Delegates in 1996. He went on to serve in the House of Representatives for 20 years before entering the Senate.