Maryland Democrats jump at shot for Mikulski's Senate seat while Republicans stay on sidelines

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Fox News:

Maryland Democrats are pouring into the race to replace party member Sen. Barbara Mikulski, but her announced retirement appears to have caught Republicans by surprise with top prospects still on the sidelines.

 

Rep. Andy Harris is considered the first in line, as the only Maryland Republican in Congress.

 

Harris told FoxNews.com on Wednesday that he’s considering a run but won’t make a decision until the fall.

 

“We’re certainly going to take a look at it and see how it shakes out,” said the three-term congressmen, who also made clear that other potential candidates were free to decide on their own timelines.

 

The party primaries for the open seat will be in April 2016.

 

Mikulski’s retirement has sparked so much interest from potential Democratic candidates in Maryland because the state has had only three senators in the past 38 years.

 

Though Maryland is considered one of the most liberal states in the country, Republicans feel empowered after businessman Larry Hogan’s 2014 gubernatorial upset victory over Democratic Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, in which Hogan became only the second Republican governor in Maryland in nearly four decades.

 

Among the other GOP candidates mentioned for the Mikulski seat are former Maryland congressman and Gov. Robert Ehrlich, former congresswoman Connie Morella and former Maryland Secretary of State Mary Kane.

 

Harris said a potential Kane or Morella run would make sense considering Mikulski’s legacy -- the longest-serving woman in the history of Congress who has held her Senate seat since 1987.

 

“As a state party, we can run an effective race for an open seat,” Joe Cluster, the Maryland Republican Party executive director, told FoxNews.com on Monday. “We’re actively recruiting, but nobody has done more than say they’re just looking at the race.”

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Republicans abandon all hope in Maryland?