WASHINGTON– With Democrats Chris Van Hollen and Donna Edwards jumping into the Senate race that’s barely a week old, what does the timetable look like for Republicans?
“The race for governor sort of shows that you can go slow on the Republican side,” said Todd Eberly, professor of political science at St. Mary’s College of Maryland. “Larry Hogan waited until the very end to hop into this thing and wound up winning it.”
He also cautions that it could be much harder for Republicans to win the 2016 general election.
“It’s a presidential election year and the electorate in Maryland is very different in a presidential year than it is in a gubernatorial year,” he said. “It’s much harder for a Republican to win statewide in a presidential year.”
This means someone like Rep. Andy Harris, R-Cockeysville, who would have to give up his seat to run, might want to take his time before making a decision about “what would probably be a bit of a Quixotic quest for a Senate seat.”
“The Eastern Shore out there is pretty safe for him now, maybe even a little bit more Republican after redistricting,” Eberly said.