House trio assess bids for Sarbanes' seat

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BALTIMORE -- To run or not to run?

With 18 months to go until the 2006 Senate primary election, that's the question several of Maryland's Democratic congressmen are carefully weighing in the wake of U.S. Sen. Paul S. Sarbanes' surprise retirement announcement.

The crux of their political soul-searching is whether to give up a secure, hard-won position in the U.S. House of Representatives to join a potentially crowded group pursuing a rare open Senate seat -- Mr. Sarbanes has served for nearly 30 years; Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski for nearly 20.

Kweisi Mfume, a former five-term congressman and former president of the NAACP, and activist A. Robert Kaufman have already declared their intention to run. But several others, including Democratic Reps. Benjamin L. Cardin, C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger and Chris Van Hollen, have expressed "serious interest" and are actively gauging their chance at success.

"An open Senate seat is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," said Barbara Hoffman, an Annapolis lobbyist and former Democratic state senator who has discussed the race with Mr. Cardin and Mr. Mfume. "You go for it, because you know you may never have the opportunity again. At the same time, you know that no one is going to hand it to you."

In weighing their decision, the congressmen must determine their ability to raise money for a long, possibly bitter campaign, even as they poll voters to test their name recognition, Miss Hoffman said: "They have to also weigh, 'Do I really want to do this?'"

Mr. Cardin is in his 10th term representing Maryland's 3rd Congressional District, which includes parts of Baltimore city and Anne Arundel, Baltimore and Howard counties.

"The decision I face is, what's best for the people I represent? And can I continue to do better as a public servant in the Senate? It clearly would be a tough battle, and the battle part I'm prepared for," Mr. Cardin said in a recent interview. "At the end of the day, it's a judgment call, and it's a call that I make based on what's best for me and my constituents."

Mr. Cardin, meanwhile, has been working the phone, testing how he's received in various parts of the state: "If I run for Senate, I want to be a candidate for the entire state. I'm trying to find out how well that plays."

The agony over whether to leave a job in Congress for a chance at the Senate is real, experts say.