By Sean Rice
ST. MARY'S TODAY

LEXINGTON PARK (May 3, 2005) --- Fifth District Congressman Steny Hoyer (D. Md. 5th) is going to bat for fellow Congressman Ben Cardin (D. Md. 3^rd.), to help deliver his fellow Maryland legislator a United States Senate seat.

Hoyer, who is the favorite of many Maryland Democrats to be the next governor but instead is opting for continuing as the second ranking Democrat in the House, stumped for Cardin at two events in Southern Maryland on Monday.

"There is nobody that knows Ben Cardin that doesn’t have a very positive view. He is the most able-bodied legislator with whom I’ve ever served," Hoyer told ST. MARY’S TODAY after speaking to a group of business and political leaders in Lexington Park. Hoyer and Cardin also addressed a group at La Plata earlier.

The Senate hopeful told the Lexington Park crowd, heavy with defense contractors, he understands the immense importance of continuing to foster the relationship between government and the military facilities in the area.

Mary Ann Chasen, a Lexington Park resident, told Cardin funding for public libraries and affordable housing are main concerns for her, and asked Cardin for his plans on these issues.

Cardin responded: "These are issues that are in common, that we will need to deal with."

Former St. Mary’s County Commissioner Joe Anderson, who is currently a Democratic Central Committee member, said protecting the Chesapeake Bay should take a higher priority in Washington.

"In my opinion, we haven’t done enough and we need to put it on the front burner," Anderson said. "It all falls downhill, and we are at the mouth of it."

Quality of life issues are "critical" to the area, Cardin answered. He said he will seek to strengthen federal partnerships with local agencies to accomplish this goal.

Answering a question about federal COPS funding from St. Mary’s Sheriff David Zylak, Cardin said the per-capita breakdown of homeland security handouts from Washington does not adequately protect areas that may be more prone to an attack, when compared to low-risk areas such as the Midwest.

Cardin proposes a national terrorism risk assessment to more fairly provide homeland security money to areas that really need it.

Cardin, who has served 10 terms in the House of Representatives, faces former NAACP chief Kweise Mfume in a September 2006 primary election, to see who will run on the Democrat ticket in the race for one of two U.S. Senate seats in Maryland, being vacated by career federal legislator, Republican Paul Sarbanes.

Congressman Chris Van Hollen (D. Md. 8th) has stated publicly that he may also seek the Democrat nomination, but has yet to join the race.

Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele (R.) is expected to be the anointed GOP candidate. Steele recently represented the U.S. at the inauguration of Pope Benedict XVI and is being groomed by national Republican leaders to try to extract the Maryland Senate seat away from the Democrats for the first time since Sen. Charles Mac. Mathias gave the seat up in 1986 and was followed into office by Barbara Mikulski.

Sarbanes was elected in the fall of 1976 to a seat held by Republican J. Glenn Beall Jr., who lost in the wake of the Watergate scandal, which changed many congressional seats from Republican to Democrat.
Since that time, the Senate and the House have both shifted to GOP control and the Republicans are looking for any opportunity to make further inroads.