Former Rep. Donna Edwards Announces Bid to Represent the 4th District Again

Former Congresswoman Donna F. Edwards (D) announced Thursday that she will run again for her old seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Edwards had been gearing up for a campaign for several weeks, after Rep. Anthony G. Brown (D) announced he would vacate the seat to run for Maryland attorney general.

“The fact is, our congressional district no longer gets our fair share from Washington. We’ve got to fix that. And I will,” Edwards says in a two-minute campaign launch video. “And I’ll go back with more seniority than most of the people in that building. That means clout to make sure our district has not just a seat at the table, but a seat at the front of the table where the decisions are made.”

In 2008, Edwards became the first Black woman elected to represent Maryland in Congress and she held the seat until the end of 2016. She lost Democratic primaries for U.S. Senate in 2016 and Prince George’s County executive in 2018.

The other Democrats in the 4th District race this year are former state Del. Angela Angel, former Prince George’s State’s Attorney Glenn F. Ivey, and state Del. Jazz M. Lewis.

In the campaign video, Edwards talks about setting out on a 12,000-mile listening tour in a borrowed RV named Lucille after Donald Trump became president, an attempt to “learn more about our country and where we’re headed.”

“They told me about the skyrocketing cost of insulin. I told them about paying for the MS meds that keep me in good health,” Edwards said.

“…And then COVID hit, and it hit our counties the hardest, and that’s on top of the huge inequities we already face,” Edwards says in the video. “Because our voices have not been heard. Our stories have not been told our children have not been a priority, and our families and workers have been left behind.”

If elected, Edwards promised to renew the effort to relocate the FBI headquarters to Prince George’s County, support Medicare for all and increased wages, and pursue reforms for environmental justice and criminal justice.

Edwards, 63, co-founded and led the National Network to End Domestic Violence after she graduated law school, spearheading the bipartisan effort to pass the Violence Against Women Act in 1994.

Ivey, meanwhile, began airing a 60-second radio spot on Black-oriented radio stations Thursday that serve the Prince George’s County market.

“You know, there are always some folks who talk a big game, but never show up when it matters,” a female narrator says at the top of the spot. “Talkers vs. doers. Look at Congress — full of talkers.”

The narrator goes on to describe Ivey’s record as state’s attorney. “He made things better for us,” she says, adding, “He’s a doer.”

Ivey comes on 40 seconds into the ad.

“You pay too much for gas, too much for food, and there’s too much crime,” he says. “I’m running for Congress to roll up my sleeves and get things done. You work hard, and I’ll work hard for you.”

The ad was produced by SKDK, Ivey’s media firm. A campaign representative said Ivey is making a “five-figure” ad buy, and that the radio spot will largely run on area Gospel music stations.