Statement on Congressman steny Hoyer’s Retirement:

Congressman Steny Hoyer’s decision to retire marks the end of a significant era in Maryland politics. For decades, he served the people of Maryland’s 5th District and played a consequential role in national Democratic leadership. That record of service deserves recognition and respect. For that, his years of dedicated service deserve recognition and respect.

But respect for the past must not become an excuse to avoid an honest reckoning with the future.

I entered this race before Congressman Hoyer announced his retirement, because I believed then — as I do now — that Maryland’s 5th District needed a real conversation about representation, accountability, and whether the status quo was truly serving the people it was meant to serve. I did not wait for permission, timing advantages, or insider signals. I was willing to challenge the status quo head-on when it was still firmly in place.

This open seat now presents a rare and meaningful opportunity—one that should not be squandered by inertia, insider succession planning, or media-driven narratives that attempt to declare winners before voters have had a real chance to evaluate the field. No one should be anointed. No one should be treated as inevitable.

An open seat fundamentally levels the playing field. Every candidate should be evaluated on the strength of their ideas, the independence of their judgment, and their commitment to serving people — not on how long they have circulated within local or state political systems, what titles they have held, or how familiar their name may be to political insiders.

Already, we are seeing attempts to frame this race around so-called “front-runners” and political résumés rather than substantive platforms. That kind of coverage creates an illusion of inevitability that protects the status quo and narrows the conversation before it has truly begun.

Timing matters. Many who are now eager to step forward showed little interest in challenging the status quo when it was still entrenched. Now that the seat is open, suddenly everyone is ready. But if voters are frustrated with how things have been working, simply elevating a member of the same political class to Congress does not change the outcome. It only changes the office — the same incentives, the same disconnect, just moving the problem from Annapolis to Washington.

This seat is not a reward for time served. It is not an insider inheritance. It belongs to the people of Maryland’s 5th District.

Voters deserve a race decided on individual merit—on character, independence, and a genuine commitment to serving people over power. This moment calls for seriousness, honesty, and courage. The future of this district should be decided by voters themselves—not by media framing or political inevitability.

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