Longtime Senator Ben Cardin Not Running for Reelection

Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md) speaks at a hearing in Capitol Hill, Washington, on June 10, 2020. (Kevin Dietsch/Pool/Getty Images)

Longtime Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) announced he will not run for a fourth Senate term in 2024.

“It’s time,” Cardin, 79, told The Baltimore Sun. “I always knew this election cycle would be the one I would be thinking about not running again, so it’s not something that hit me by surprise. I enjoy life. There are other things I can do.” TIME first reported the development on May 1.

In the Senate, Cardin has served on the Foreign Relations Committee; the Environment and Public Works Committee; the Finance Committee; and the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, of which he is chairman.

Prior to the Senate, Cardin served for 20 years, or 10 terms, in the House of Representatives. Cardin also served in the Maryland House of Delegates for around 20 years, which included being the chamber’s speaker.

The Democrats control the Senate, 51-49. In next year’s elections, seats in several swing states will be up for grabs. Three Democrats are running in states that former President Donald Trump won in 2020: Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), and Jon Tester (D-Mont.).

As to who will run for Cardin’s seat, possible Democrat candidates include Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), who made a name for himself in being the lead impeachment manager in Trump’s second impeachment; Rep. David Trone (D-Md.); Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr.; Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks; and Rep. John Sarbanes (D-Md.), whose late father, Paul Sarbanes, was a 30-year senator.

Possible Republicans include Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.); former Maryland Gov. Bob Ehrlich; and former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, who declined a 2022 Senate run.

The Epoch Times has reached out to ask whether they plan to run for Cardin’s seat or are at least considering doing so.

In a statement, Raskin expressed appreciation for Cardin’s service, but he did not say whether he would run to succeed him.

“After 58 years of integrity-filled public service, where he showed his prodigious work ethic from Annapolis to Washington, Senator Ben Cardin has assembled a remarkable record of advancing the needs and priorities of Maryland,“ he said. ”I salute him and have congratulated him on a truly amazing and inspiring career devoted to service of our people and the old-fashioned public values of honesty and decency. I want to thank him, his beloved wife Myrna and their whole family for their outstanding and continuing contributions to our state.”

Trone did the same.

“I join my colleagues and the people of Maryland in celebrating the distinguished career and outstanding contributions of @SenatorCardin. Across five remarkable decades of public service, Senator Cardin has demonstrated a steadfast commitment to the people of Maryland,” he posted in a Twitter thread.

Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.), who has been in Congress since 2003, is not considering a run for Senate, his spokesperson, Jaime Lennon, told The Epoch Times.

Cardin has not endorsed a successor.

“I know that people are interested. Let’s see who is prepared to do it. I am extremely confident we will hold the seat,” he told The Baltimore Sun, referring to his fellow Democrats.