Glenn Ivey has dropped his bid to upset U.S. Rep. Donna Edwards in the Fourth Congressional District, citing poor campaign fundraising.
The former Prince George’s County State’s Attorney announced the decision on Wednesday, after announced his intention to run in October 2011. Ivey pointed to the fast-approaching April 3 primary to determine the Democratic candidate in Maryland’s reshaped Fourth District as reason to pull out of the race.
“It would take a very substantial amount of money to get my message out to voters in two very expensive media markets,” Ivey said. “A tough economy and a compressed election time-frame have made it tough for my campaign to raise enough funds to move forward.”
Ivey had raised about $160,000 for his campaign, according to spokesman Ramon Korionoff, and faced a tough primary race against Edwards, who had already picked up an endorsement from U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski.
Thousands of dollars more would have been needed to sustain a campaign in the expensive media markets of Washington and Baltimore – the reshaped district now stretches into Anne Arundel County, while dropping Montgomery County.
Ivey considered running against Edwards two years ago, when he formed an exploratory committee, but decided against it. Edwards’ criticism of Gov. Martin O’Malley’s redistricting proposal, which drastically changed the Fourth Congressional District, led some to believe her standing with the party had weakened and a challenger could upset her.
Democrats George McDermott and Ian Garner now remain on the primary ballot against Edwards.
