Edwards Wins Election to Congress
Democrat to Be First Black Woman Representing Md.

By Rosalind S. Helderman and James Hohmann
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, June 18, 2008; B01
 
 

Democrat Donna F. Edwards was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives by voters in Montgomery and Prince George's counties yesterday, becoming the first black woman selected to serve Maryland in Congress.

Edwards, 49, a lawyer and nonprofit executive from Fort Washington, defeated Republican Peter James and Libertarian Thibeaux Lincecum in a contest marked by exceptionally low turnout at the polls. Edwards will replace eight-term Rep. Albert R. Wynn (D), whom she defeated in a primary election in February.

"We're going to go in and just get to work," she told a crowd of about 100 supporters last night at a victory party in Lanham, including House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) "I'm going to move in quickly, as soon as they give me the keys."

She told the crowd she will be sworn in tomorrow. The voter turnout appeared to be less than 5 percent, but Edwards's most ardent supporters made sure she had their support.

"She's a go-getter, and she stayed positive," said Willette Woods, 28, who cast a vote for Edwards at Largo High School. "She really seems like she's about positive change."

Wynn, after losing to Edwards by 22 percentage points, resigned from Congress on May 31. Edwards will now fill out the remainder of his term, serving until January. Edwards and James will face each other again in the November election for the next two-year term.

Montgomery and Prince George's elections officials said the election would cost $1.05 million to $1.25 million, an expense to be borne by taxpayers of the two counties.

Edwards defeated Wynn by claiming that he had become beholden to corporate interests and voted with Republicans on authorizing the use of force in Iraq and other key issues.

She was supported by an enthusiastic national network of liberal-leaning bloggers and was endorsed by several leading progressive organizations including Emily's List, which backs female candidates for office, the Sierra Club, and the League of Conservation Voters.

The groups joined the Service Employees International Union in a $1.5 million independent effort in support of Edwards over Wynn. Edwards's campaign also spent close to $1 million to get her message out to voters.

She also received a boost from voters looking for change in a primary dominated in Maryland by presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.). Edwards will now replace Wynn as a superdelegate to the Democratic National Convention in August. Like Wynn, Edwards has said she will vote for Obama.

James, meanwhile, only recently raised the $5,000 necessary to require him to register his fundraising efforts with the Federal Election Commission. James, a high-tech developer from Germantown, earned his party's nomination in part because of his affiliation Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex.), a former presidential candidate with whom he shares libertarian principles.

James, who attempts to limit his interactions with government and his personal debt by having no driver's license, bank account, home mortgage or credit card, has said he ran for the office largely to call attention to what he saw as deep defects in the nation's banking structure.

He planned no party for election night, but instead expected to relax with family members and begin plotting strategy for a November contest. "A lot of people thought she was the congresswoman already -- there's been a lot of that," he said of Edwards.

Edwards, meanwhile, gathered with supporters at the Lanham union hall of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 26. The event site was significant because the union backed Wynn in the February primary and hosted his gathering on the primary election night.

"It's interesting she would do that -- in effect saying, I'm in this seat now, I'm leaving my mark," said Ron Walters, a political science professor at the University of Maryland.

Edwards said she reconciled with the union leaders in the first days after February's primary and was holding her party at their offices was a way to symbolize party unity.

"We're Democrats -- we know how to do primaries," she said. "And then we get the primary over, and we know how to govern."

Edwards said she would first turn her attention to staffing her congressional office and taking on constituent concerns.

Wynn's resignation gave Edwards an opportunity to gain seniority over freshmen in Congress elected in November. That advantage, combined with Edwards's reputation as a giant-slayer in the primary election and her national network of followers, allows her to enter Congress with unusual prominence.

"She's going to be noticed because she unseated an incumbent," Walters said. "That gives her some visibility."

Walters said, however, that the novelty will wear off quickly and then Edwards would make her mark through hard work.

Edwards called her chance to become Maryland's first black woman elected to Congress an "added benefit" of her campaign, made sweeter because the historical milestone played little role in an election dominated by issues.

"It speaks volumes about our electorate," she said. "It is so wonderful for women, for African Americans, for all of us to celebrate that we can move forward and not even really pay attention to it."

© 2008 The Washington Post Company