Montgomery County Councilman Will Jawando announces his candidacy for the open U.S. Senate seat from Maryland

Montgomery County Councilman Will Jawando announced Tuesday that he is running in the 2024 election to represent Maryland in the U.S. Senate, eyeing the seat vacated by Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin.

Jawando, a Democrat, has served on the Montgomery County General Council since being elected and sworn in in 2018.

“I’m running for the U.S. Senate because I believe we can build a shared prosperity in Maryland that uplifts everyone and leaves no one behind. That would be truly tremendous,” he said in a video statement announcing his candidacy on Tuesday.

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He is a lawyer and civil rights activist and previously served in the Obama administration as associate director of public engagement at the White House and as an adviser to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. Jawando also wrote a memoir published last year titled “My Seven Black Fathers,” which reflects his mentorship and service to his community.

As a member of the Montgomery County General Council, Jawando lobbied for legislation to lower rents, build more affordable housing and address racial injustice, he said in his video announcement. .

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Will Jawando has served on the Montgomery County Council since being elected and sworn in in 2018. (Getty)

“There’s a big lie in America. But it wasn’t about Donald Trump or his delusions that he won the election – the real big lie, the one you feel every day, that pits neighbors against neighbors is the one who says: ‘For me to do well, you have to do worse’, that we cannot take care of each other, and still prosper, that if some people move forward, everyone must be left behind,” Jawando said in the video.

Jawando is the first to announce his candidacy for the open U.S. Senate seat from Maryland.

longtime Democrat Senator Ben Cardin said he would not seek re-election. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

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On Monday, Jawando thanked Cardin for his service to the people of Maryland. Cardin has served in the US Senate since 2007 and was a member of the US House of Representatives for the previous 20 years. Prior to serving in Washington, Cardin served in the Maryland House of Delegates from 1967 to 1987.

“There are few people in Maryland, let alone the US Senate, who have done more for working families than Senator Cardin,” Jawando wrote on Facebook. “His tireless work has had a positive impact on our community and will be felt by generations of Marylanders for years to come.”