Mfume Is First To Announce Run For Cummings’ Seat

By Rosaland Tyler
Associate Editor
New Journal and Guide

 Kweisi Mfume recently announced he will run for his former 7th District seat in Congress to replace the late U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings in the Feb. 4 special election, according to The Baltimore Sun.

“Today, we are here without Elijah,” Mfume said Nov. 4, announcing his candidacy before a crowd of supporters at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum in downtown Baltimore. “I’ve got to find a way to make sure that all that he and all others fought for is not lost, tossed to the side, or forgotten.”

The filing deadline is Nov. 20. The district includes parts of Baltimore City as well as Baltimore and Howard counties.

Mfume, 71, served in Congress from 1987 to 1996 and was chair of the Congressional Black Caucus from 1993 to 1995. He was credited with helping to save programs that aided African American businesses and supporting Democratic President Bill Clinton’s agenda.

He left Congress and headed the NAACP from 1996 through 2004. While he was credited with returning the civil rights organization to solvency by eliminating years of deficits and increasing membership numbers, he was also the subject of two internal NAACP investigations that described allegations of nepotism and sexual harassment at the organization’s Baltimore headquarters. Michele Speaks, a former manager alleged that after rebuffing an advance by Mfume, she was passed over for raises and a promotion.

The filing deadline is Nov. 20. The district includes parts of Baltimore City as well as Baltimore and Howard counties.

Mfume, 71, served in Congress from 1987 to 1996 and was chair of the Congressional Black Caucus from 1993 to 1995. He was credited with helping to save programs that aided African American businesses and supporting Democratic President Bill Clinton’s agenda.

He left Congress and headed the NAACP from 1996 through 2004. While he was credited with returning the civil rights organization to solvency by eliminating years of deficits and increasing membership numbers, he was also the subject of two internal NAACP investigations that described allegations of nepotism and sexual harassment at the organization’s Baltimore headquarters. Michele Speaks, a former manager alleged that after rebuffing an advance by Mfume, she was passed over for raises and a promotion.

In 2005, he unsuccessfully ran for the Senate and lost a close primary race to Ben Cardin, who defeated Republican Michael Steele in the general election.
In late October, Cummings’ widow Maya Rockeymoore Cummings said she might run for his 7th congressional district seat in the Feb. 4 special election. She is also the chairwoman of the Maryland Democratic Party.
“I love Baltimore city, the counties of the 7th congressional district, and the state of Maryland,” Rockeymoore Cummings said in a statement. “I’m deeply committed to public service and I’m honored by the widespread encouragement I’ve received to continue Elijah’s amazing legacy. As I mourn the loss of my husband, I’m thinking carefully about the future and will make an announcement very soon.”
Other possible candidates include former Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and Del. Talmadge Branch, 63, the majority whip in the Maryland House of Delegates and a special assistant to former Democratic U.S. Rep. Parren J. Mitchell when he represented the 7th District in the 1980s.
After the special primary, a special general election will be held April 28. The winner of that election will fill the remainder of Cummings’ term, which runs into January 2021.
April 28 is also the same day as Maryland’s regularly scheduled primary for congressional seats. So, anyone who wants to keep the seat beyond January 2021 also must run in that primary and advance to the regular general election in November 2020.