Civil Rights Leader Kweisi Mfume Announces Bid For U.S. Senate
By GRETCHEN PARKER
Associated Press Writer
BALTIMORE (AP) _ Kweisi Mfume, a former five-term congressman who recently stepped down as president of the NAACP, announced Monday that he will run for the U.S. Senate next year in Maryland. In announcing his candidacy, the Baltimore native and former radio talk show host declared in a booming voice: ``I can't be bought. I won't be intimidated, and I don't know how to quit.''
Mfume, 56, had made no secret that his sights were set on a Senate seat, but he did not formally announce his candidacy until retiring five-term Sen. Paul Sarbanes disclosed last week that he would not seek re-election. If elected, Mfume would become the first black U.S. senator in Maryland history and only the sixth in U.S. history.
Derek Walker, spokesman for the Maryland Democratic Party, described Mfume's announcement as ``step one in what will be an embarrassment of wealth for the Democratic Party in 2006.''
``Most states have the problem of 'Let's beg someone to get in the race, let's dangle some carrot out there.' In Maryland, we don't need to beg anyone.''
Mfume already has a strong base with black voters, who generally make up at least 30 percent of the electorate in Maryland's Democratic primaries, said Annapolis-based pollster Patrick Gonzales.
Mfume, 56, left Congress in 1996 to take the helm of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
At the time, the Baltimore-based civil rights group was in turmoil _ rocked by an embarrassing sex scandal involving its previous leaders, along with bitter internal strife and a crippling $3.2 million deficit.
Many observers say Mfume brought credibility and stability, working to institute corporate style-management practices. When he stepped down in November, the organization had enjoyed a budget surplus for eight consecutive years and an increasing endowment fund.
Mfume, whose full name is pronounced ``kwah-EE-see oom-FOO-may,'' said he is not afraid to go on the record as a ``social liberal,'' although he considers himself a fiscal conservative. Democrats outnumber Republicans in Maryland 2-to-1, but the state elected a GOP governor in 2002 for the first time in 36 years.
Mfume, whose adopted West African name translates to ``conquering son of kings,'' also has the advantage of broad name recognition.
``He's got the name and the reputation to enable him to handle the job,'' said Pam Morris, taking a lunch break Monday from her job at a downtown bank. ``He's got enough experience to hold his own with anyone.''
Sarbanes, 72, announced Friday that he would not seek a sixth term, noting that he would be 80 by the time that term ended. Sarbanes is the longest serving senator in Maryland's history.
Five of Maryland's six Democratic congressmen said when Sarbanes announced his retirement that they were considering running for his seat. One of them, Al Wynn, said Monday that he was dropping any such plan, in favor of Mfume. Two others announced they would form committees to consider a run.