MD-04

Donna Edwards and son Jared, at a polling place on February 12.It's official (again): Donna Edwards is the Fourth District Democratic nominee.

Last night, the Prince George's County Democratic Central Committee met in Glenarden to recommend a candidate in the Special Election on June 17. Local activist Donna Edwards, who won the Feb. 12 primary, was the unanimous choice of the 17 members present for the vote.

The Fourth District seat will be vacated on May 31, when incumbent Rep. Al Wynn will step down to pursue a career in the private sector. As a result, Gov. Martin O'Malley and the state legislature created a bill allowing a party's central committee to select a nominee under certain circumstances, thereby proceeding directly to a special general election.

Since Edwards was selected earlier this week by the Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee, the Prince George's Democrats' decision officially makes Edwards the party's nominee on June 17.

In a 22-1 vote, the Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee selected Donna Edwards as the party's nominee in the June 17 special election. Jason Jennings received one vote.

Edwards won the Democratic nomination last February over incumbent Rep. Al Wynn, who is stepping down on May 31 for the private sector. In response to the vacancy, Gov. Martin O'Malley and the state legislature created a bill allowing a party's central committee to select a nominee under certain circumstances, thereby proceeding directly to a special general election.

The Prince George's County Democratic Central Committee will meet to select its nominee on Thursday night.

Donna Edwards finished the quarter with a healthy $236,000 reserve, and not surprisingly, several of Al Wynn’s big money supporters have found their way into Edwards’ financial reports this quarter.

Under the new emergency legislation to bypass special primaries and head directly into the general elections, what would happen if the Prince George's County Democratic Central Committee and the Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee disagreed on in their choice of nominee?

For those who were waiting to hear, the Fourth District Democrat filed her resume with the Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee at 4:30 p.m. -- thirty minutes before the 5 p.m. deadline.

Jason Jennings has put in his resume with the Montgomery Democratic Central Committee to be selected as the party's candidate for the Fourth District special general election on June 17.

Presumptive nominee Donna Edwards has not.

She's got two hours and nineteen minutes to go before the committee's 5:00 p.m. deadline.

The Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee will meet to recommend a candidate for the soon-to-be-vacant Fourth District House seat on Tuesday, April 22.

Tomorrow, Gov. Martin O’Malley will sign emergency legislation to forgo a special primary by allowing the parties’ central committees to select the nominees for a special general election to replace Rep. Al Wynn, who will retire May 31.

The party has set the candidate application deadline for Monday. Donna Edwards, who won the Feb. 12 Democratic primary, is expected to be selected.

At his afternoon press conference, Gov. Martin O’Malley announced that he will ask the General Assembly to amend the state code or grant a special order allowing the Fourth District to hold a special general election without a special primary.

O’Malley is seeking the exception in light of a primary being held in the district so recently. On Feb. 12, Donna Edwards handily defeated Rep. Al Wynn, who last week announced his resignation from Congress, effective in June. The cost of a primary and general special election – estimated at almost $1 million each – is weighing heavily on the Governor’s decision to call for a special election, or allowing the seat to remain vacant until January.

According to Maryland state law, the Governor has ten days within learning of the resignation or the resignation itself to call a special election. Wynn announced his resignation six days ago on Thursday, March 28.

In a must-read on Rep. Al Wynn’s resignation in today’s edition of The Hill, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer says he will take up the issue of a special election for the Fourth District in talks this week. Hoyer said he plans to discuss the date with Gov. Martin O’Malley and Democratic nominee Donna Edwards.

Rep. Elijah Cummings was also interviewed for the story, encouraging a special election to be held despite the nearly $2 million pricetag.

The article also focuses on whether Wynn, as an outgoing member, should be allowed to continue to hold a seat on the Energy and Commerce Committee. The Republican Minority Leader’s offices has called for him to vacate, and Hoyer seemed amenable to the idea.

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