(CNN) — Maya Rockeymoore Cummings, widow of US Rep. Elijah Cummings, announced Monday that she will run in the special election for her late husband’s former seat in Congress.
“We fought alongside of each other for a very long time, and now I’m looking to continue to fight. He would want me to continue to fight and so that’s what I’m going to do,” Rockeymoore Cummings, chairwoman of the Maryland Democratic Party, said in a video interview with The Baltimore Sun published Monday evening.
Rockeymoore Cummings told the Sun she would resign from her state party position ahead of her campaign. She is expected to kick off her campaign in Baltimore on Tuesday.
Minutes after the Sun interview published, she announced her campaign on national television to MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow.
Rockeymoore Cummings’ husband, Elijah Cummings, died of “complications concerning longstanding health challenges” on October 17 at age 68. He had represented Maryland’s 7th congressional district, which includes Baltimore, since 1996. He served as the chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, one of the panels involved in the impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump.
“I’m looking to extend and carry forward my husband’s legacy, while also building and growing a legacy of my own,” Rockeymoore Cummings said in the Sun video.
She is a policy consultant and founder of Washington, DC-based policy firm Global Policy Solutions. She also ran for Maryland governor last year, before assuming the position of state party chair.
Following Elijah Cummings’ death, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan ordered a special primary election for the 7th district for February 4. The general election is scheduled for April 28, the same day as the presidential primary in the state. Candidates must file to run by November 20.
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