At long last, an interesting Maryland Senate race

Michael Steele, the Republican Lt. Gov. of Maryland, has announced that he will run for the Senate. Steele is the first African-American ever elected to statewide office in my home state.

I worked at the same law firm as Michael more than 15 years ago. What an impressive guy! I was still a registered Democrat then, but on the few occasions we talked politics, Michael seemed to think I had potential.

Polls apparently show Steele running behind one of his two potential opponents (Rep. Benjamin Cardin) but ahead of the other (NAACP president Kweisi Mfume). Cardin seems likely to defeat Mfume in the primary. At that point the question would be the extent to which Steele can appeal to potentially disaffected African-American voters.

UPDATE: Here is the text of Steele’s speech announcing his candidacy. Via The Corner.

Notice: All comments are subject to moderation. Our comments are intended to be a forum for civil discourse bearing on the subject under discussion. Commenters who stray beyond the bounds of civility or employ what we deem gratuitous vulgarity in a comment — including, but not limited to, “s***,” “f***,” “a*******,” or one of their many variants — will be banned without further notice in the sole discretion of the site moderator.

Responses