U.S. Senate Race

When it comes to women in politics, Maryland has been a national leader for decades. It was the first state to have a bipartisan women’s legislative caucus, and it ranks seventh nationwide in terms of the portion of women in the state legislature.

Sen. Barbara Mikulski is a large part of the reason for Maryland’s legacy of woman leadership, said Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. A 30-year Senate veteran, Mikulski is known as the “dean” of women in the chamber and a leader on women’s rights.

Mikulski is retiring when her term ends in January, and on Tuesday, Maryland voters elected Democratic U.S. Rep. Chris Van Hollen to fill her seat. The result is Maryland’s first all-male congressional delegation since 1971.

Repealing Obamacare has become a litmus test for many Republicans seeking federal office. But Republican Senate candidate Kathy Szeliga said Friday she wouldn’t vote to repeal the federal healthcare law.

Republican Senate candidate Kathy Szeliga said Tuesday that her top priority if she is elected would be to fix management problems at the Department of Veterans’ Affairs. The delegate from Baltimore County made the comments while speaking with WYPR’s Tom Hall on Midday.

On a recent evening at the Birdland Sports Bar on Belair Road, Kathy Szeliga was making her pitch to about 30 people, most of them already on board with her campaign.

“36 years ago, Mark and I eloped,” Szeliga said. “We had five dollars in our pocket, minimum wage jobs and no car.”

But they went on to start a construction business. Szeliga plans to use her ‘pull yourself up by your bootstraps’ story to contrast herself with her opponent for Maryland’s open U.S. Senate seat, Democratic Congressman Chris Van Hollen.

“You know, Ivy League, privileged white guy versus, you know the blue collar small business owner,” Szeliga said.