Ben Cardin is a member of the United States Senate from Maryland. A Democrat, he is the current chairman of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. He was previously the ranking member of the committee, as well as of the Committee on Foreign Relations.
Cardin has also been chairman of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also called the Helsinki Commission. Both while as a member of the Senate of the United States House of Representatives. He and his family have been prominent political figures in the State of Maryland for decades.
But he himself is evidently ready to call it a career.
Says he will not run for re-election
Ben Cardin will not seek another term in the U.S. Senate, Axios and CNN report. He made the announcement via a video statement. "I have run my last election," Cardin said in part. The seat he holds is next slated to come up for election in 2024.
Speculation quickly turned to who might succeed Cardin. Some have pondered if his nephew, Jon, could score the Democratic nominee. Other Democrats being mentioned include U.S. Representatives Jamie Raskin, John Sarbanes and David Trone.
On the Republican side, it's become common knowledge that party officials would like former Governor Larry Hogan to run. But Hogan, a prominent anti-Trump Republican, has repeatedly stated he would not run for the Senate.
Another anti-Trumper in former Lieutenant Governor and RNC Chairman Michael Steele is also thought to be a possibility. As is controversial U.S. Representatives Andy Harris, a Trump ally.
Cardin's first elected office was as a member of the Maryland House of Delegates. He succeeded his uncle, who was retiring. The younger Cardin later chaired the House Ways and Means Committee before serving as speaker of the House.
Is a longtime member of the United States Congress
In 1986, Ben Cardin was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Winning a seat from the 3rd District of Maryland, which was located in the Baltimore and Annapolis regions. Democratic incumbent Barbara Mikulski was not running for re-election. She instead successfully ran for the Senate, eventually chairing the Committee on Appropriations.
Cardin would be re-elected to the House nine times.
Along with the Helsinki Commission, he was also a high-profile member of the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee. Including serving as ranking member of its Subcommittee on Trade. Additionally, he was a senior Democratic whip and a manager of the impeachment trial of Mississippi federal judge Walter Nixon.
Carding was first elected to the Senate in 2006. Democratic incumbent and former Senate Banking Committee Chairman Paul Sarbanes was retiring. Cardin was re-elected in 2012 and 2018.
Is a grandson of Russian immigrants
Ben Cardin is a native of Baltimore. Along with his uncle, Maurice, Cardin's father, Meyer, was a member of the Maryland House of Delegates.
The latter would also serve as a judge. Jon S. Cardin, nephew of Ben, is a current delegate.
Ben would graduate from the Baltimore City College high school. He later graduated with a bachelor's degree from the University of Pittsburgh. Later followed with a degree from what was then the University of Maryland School of Law.
