Democrats interested in finishing the remainder of U.S. Rep. Albert Wynn’s term had better make up their minds fast — Prince George’s and Montgomery County Democratic Committee heads say they will pick their nominee for Wynn’s replacement by the end of next week.
Gov. Martin O’Malley signed emergency legislation Thursday that would allow the state of Maryland to skip a special primary election and simply hold a special general election on June 17 to replace Wynn. The eight-term congressman announced in March that he will leave office on June 22 to become a partner at local law firm Dickstein-Shapiro, after losing by more than 20 points in a February Democratic primary to challenger Donna Edwards.
When Wynn announced his resignation, he said he hoped his departure would allow Edwards, who is heavily favored to win the November general election, to become acclimated to Congress before other new representatives.
Edwards may not be the only Democrat vying to serve out the remaining seven months of Wynn’s term. Terry Speigner, chairman of the Prince George’s Democratic Central Committee, and Milt Minneman, communications director for the Montgomery Democratic Central Committee, both said Jason Jennings, a utility consultant from Silver Spring, may also be interested in the seat. Neither had spoken to Jennings about the matter by early Thursday evening. The Examiner was not able to immediately reach Jennings for comment.
“It’s a pretty pure, public process in which 24 members will vote on whoever comes forward, so we’ll just have to wait and see,” Speigner said.
Both counties’ Democratic committees want potential candidates to submit letters of intent and a resume to party leadership by early next week. Committee members from both counties will vote on their nominees Tuesday. If the counties back different candidates, the state party will select the nominee.
Peter James won the Republican primary in February, and party leaders from both counties said they were not aware of any other interested parties at this time.
“Peter James is a strong possibility,” Montgomery Republican Chairman Bill Witham said. “But we’re going to all talk about it before any formal decision is made.”
