Kweisi Mfume wins Democratic nomination to replace the late Elijah Cummings

Kweisi Mfume took a major step toward reclaiming the Baltimore-area U.S. House seat he held for 10 years, capturing the Democratic nomination to succeed his longtime friend, the powerful Elijah Cummings.

The former NAACP leader, 71, topped a field of 24 Democrats Tuesday to advance to an April 28 special general election to fill the remainder of Cummings’ 7th Congressional District term.

Mfume represented the district, which includes parts of Baltimore City, Baltimore County and Howard County, until stepping down in 1996 to lead the NAACP.

“I want to thank all the many people of the 7th Congressional District. I accept your nomination,” Mfume told an audience of a few hundred cheering supporters at The Forum, a banquet hall in northwest Baltimore. A half-dozen American flags were positioned on the stage where he spoke.

Mfume enjoyed high name recognition, particularly among older voters who remembered him as a congressman and, earlier, a member of Baltimore City Council. That helped him in an 11-week campaign in which most other candidates struggled to get attention.

Mfume was able to raise money for the race — he had more than $200,000 on hand as of Jan. 15 — and he spent much less than his competitors.

He told voters his congressional priorities would include lowering the cost of prescription drugs, improving the Affordable Care Act health care system, and reinstating a federal assault weapons ban.

[SOURCE: Baltimore Sun

Maya Rockeymoore Cummings will run for Elijah Cummings seat in Congress

Maya Rockeymoore Cummings announces that she will run for her late husband Elijah Cummings' 7th District Congressional seat.

Maryland Democratic Party Chairwoman Maya Rockeymoore Cummings, the widow of U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings, is running for her husband’s seat, arguing Monday she is the best option to carry out his legacy and continue his vision.

“I am, of course, devastated at the loss of my spouse, but his spirit is with me,” Rockeymoore Cummings, 48, said in an interview with The Baltimore Sun. “I’m going to run this race and I’m going to run it hard, as if he’s still right here by my side.”

Cummings, who had cancer, died Oct. 17 after serving more than two decades in Congress. He left a record of fighting for the needy and battling the administration of Republican President Donald Trump.

Rockeymoore Cummings, a public policy consultant who is founder of the Washington consulting firm Global Policy Solutions LLC and a former 2018 candidate for governor, said her husband told her months before he died he would like for her to succeed him.

“That was a discussion we had some months ago,” she said. “In the end, he was conflicted about whether he should resign or stay in office. We thought there might be a turnaround. It didn’t happen.”

Rockeymoore Cummings plans to kick off her campaign Tuesday at her home office in Baltimore’s Madison Park neighborhood. She said she will focus on issues important to the late congressman, such as battling the opioid crisis and “fighting for the soul of our democracy” against the Trump administration, but also on her areas of expertise, which include health and education policy.

Candidates must file by Nov. 20 to run in a special Feb. 4 primary for Cummings’ 7th District seat, which includes parts of the city of Baltimore and areas of Baltimore and Howard counties. The special election will be April 28, the same day as a regular primary for all of Maryland’s U.S. House seats. Candidates who want to fill Cummings’ seat through the rest of his term, until January 2021, and win the seat for the next two years after that, must run in both the special and regular elections.

[SOURCE: BALTIMORE SUN]

Maya Rockeymoore-Cummings' full speech at her husband Rep. Elijah Cummings' funeral

There were plenty of powerhouse speakers at Elijah Cummings funeral. There were great speeches by Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, and a moving remembrance by a former Cumming's aide, Joe Alexander but the person to best honor the late congressman was his wife, Maya Rockeymoore-Cummings.

Watch her moving tribute below.

Maya Rockeymoore Cummings, ends her campaign for the Democratic nomination for Maryland governor

Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.) has been hospitalized for treatment of a bacterial infection, his office confirmed Friday hours after his wife, Maya Rockeymoore Cummings, ended her campaign for the Democratic nomination for Maryland governor.

Cummings was admitted to Johns Hopkins Hospital on Dec. 29 with a bacterial infection in his knee, according to a statement released by his office. Doctors drained the infection Friday during a “minor procedure,” according to the statement, and added that he is “resting comfortably and expects a full recovery.”

Rockeymoore Cummings, a policy consultant, cited “personal considerations” in dropping out of the race Friday.

Rockeymoore Cummings, the second woman and the last of eight candidates to enter the crowded race, launched her campaign three months ago.

“Making a positive and direct contribution to the state of Maryland and to our nation was my greatest motivating factor for stepping into the public arena,” Cummings said in a statement. “Unfortunately due to personal considerations, I am suspending my bid for governor of Maryland.”

“Making a positive and direct contribution to the state of Maryland and to our nation was my greatest motivating factor for stepping into the public arena,” Cummings said in a statement. “Unfortunately due to personal considerations, I am suspending my bid for governor of Maryland.”

Rockeymoore Cummings has worked in politics as a staffer on Capitol Hill and for the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation but was not widely known in state politics. The bid for governor was her first run for public office. As a small-business owner, Rockeymoore focused her campaign on addressing economic inequality.

[SOURCE: THE WASHINGTON POST]