Will eighteen do it?
Maryland Junior Senator Ben Cardin is up for re-election and eighteen challengers have registered to vie for the seat. Cardin will face eight Democrats in his party’s primary, while ten Republican hopefuls will battle it out amongst themselves before the general election.
They may find he’s pretty tough to beat. The guy has been winning elections since 1967! Before his election to the US Senate six years ago, he spent twenty years in the House of Representatives. And before that he spent twenty years in the Maryland House of Delegates.
Cardin is popular for his support of environmental issues and civil rights. And he may see his political capital increase: he was one of only thirteen senators to vote against the increasingly unpopular National Defense Authorization Act, which authorizes the indefinite detention of American citizens suspected of terrorism.
Oh yeah, and he has raised more than two million dollars to fund his campaign, a number that dwarfs the efforts of his challengers.
