Three-term Senator Ben Cardin (D., Md.) announced on Monday afternoon that he will not be seeking reelection in 2024.
“I am proud of all I have done for Maryland. I have given my heart and soul to our great state, and I thank Marylanders for trusting me as your representative for all these years. Thank you, Maryland,” Cardin wrote on Twitter in a video statement featuring his wife, Myrna.
I am proud of all I have done for Maryland. I have given my heart and soul to our great state, and I thank Marylanders for trusting me as your representative for all these years.
Thank you, Maryland.https://t.co/3SVbOSKn86
— Senator Ben Cardin (@SenatorCardin) May 1, 2023
“You know, Myrna, it’s been the honor of my life to represent the people of Maryland first in the Maryland General Assembly, then as speaker of the House, later as a member of the House of Representatives, and now as a United States senator,” Cardin said. “When this term ends, it will be my last year as an elected official. I will not seek re-election.”
Republicans greeted the news as an opportunity to turn the seat in 2024. “Democrats are quickly realizing that the Senate won’t be any fun for them when Republicans retake the majority in 2024,” Tate Mitchell, the National Republican Senatorial Committee spokesperson, told Fox News following the announcement.
Larry Hogan, a former Maryland governor, is speculated to be among the leading Republican challengers bidding for Cardin’s seat.
Cardin chairs the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee in the Senate and serves as the second-ranking Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee. Among the Maryland Senator’s notable accomplishments include the passage of the Global Magnitsky Act, a bill co-authored with then-Senator John McCain (R., Ariz.), which sought to sanction individuals accused of serious human-rights violations around the world.
In the midst of the pandemic, in March 2021, Cardin was caught in a hot-mic conversation with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg admitting that Democrats would likely require budget-reconciliation procedures to pass President Joe Biden’s infrastructure bill, known as the American Rescue Plan.
“Ultimately, it’s going to be put together similar to how the American Rescue Plan was put together,” Cardin furtively said in reference to the $1.9 trillion coronavirus-relief package. “Most likely, we’re going to have to use reconciliation.”
The budget-reconciliation process, which the bill ultimately relied upon to pass legislative hurdles, permits the Senate to pass legislation with a simple majority rather than with the 60 votes needed to prevent a filibuster.
Cardin’s announcement makes him the third Democratic Senator – alongside Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.) and Debbie Stabenow (D., Mich.) – to retire ahead of the upcoming elections. He was recently mentioned by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer as a potential temporary replacement for the former on the Judiciary Committee although Republicans have vowed to block such efforts.
Cardin entered the Senate in 2006 following a nearly two decades long career in the House of Representatives as Maryland’s 3rd Congressional District representative.
“I am an optimist but also a realist. I was taught that it’s OK to compromise – don’t ever compromise your principles – but find a path to get things done. Inspire trust in those around you. Keep your word and, again, listen. That’s civility and it has been central to all I have done over these many years of elected office,” Cardin concluded.