Donna Edwards revels in outsider approach to politics.

'Years before Rep. Donna F. Edwards took her seat in the House of Representatives, she and a small group of advocates trudged through the halls of Capitol Hill in search of any lawmaker who would listen to a message that wasn't easy to hear.

Bill text in hand, Edwards marched from office to office to sell members on the idea that domestic violence had become so pervasive it required a federal response — that Congress, in other words, had to do something.

"We were just so rough around the edges; we really did not know how to get anything done," said Debby Tucker, a longtime advocate on the issue who worked with Edwards to help pass the Violence Against Women Act of 1994. "But we were burning with the desire to get something done."

Edwards, 57, a Prince George's County lawmaker first elected in 2008, has long pushed for change as an outsider. That was the case when she advocated for the domestic violence law, which provided funding to help victims, and it is now a central message of her campaign for Maryland's open Senate seat.

The Oxon Hill woman does not have support from many elected officials in the state, or in Washington. But Edwards is comfortable with that — she notes frequently that many Democratic power brokers also wrote off Barbara A. Mikulski when she first ran for Senate in 1986.

Edwards and Rep. Chris Van Hollen are now seeking Mikulski's seat in what has become among the most closely watched Senate primaries in the nation.

"For me, at least, she's a refreshing change from inside politics, and from business as usual," said Kweisi Mfume, the former congressman and NAACP leader, who recently endorsed Edwards. "Over and over again she's been knocked down, and she continues to get up."

What Edwards offers is a perspective she says is sorely lacking in the Senate — that of a single mother, an African-American woman, a person who knows the sting of supplementing a trip to the grocery store with help from a food bank.'>>>

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/2016-senate-race/bs-md-edwards-profile-20160418-story.html

races.

In the Senate race, Donna Edwards is more progressive than Van Hollen in every issues I can think of where they differ. He was willing to cut Social Security as part of a grand bargain, while she was strongly opposed to that. She's a co-sponsor of a single-payer healthcare bill, while he isn't. She's a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, he isn't. I've yet to hear of a good reason why a progressive wouldn't vote for Edwards.

Likewise, Jamie Raskin is the most progressive candidate of the three front runners for the 8th (the other candidates are polling in the single digits). Raskin has a strong history as being a progressive State Senator. That also means that among the three front runners, he's the only one with political experience. Matthews' background is as a newscaster and corporate exec. David Trone is a millionaire businessman trying to buy the election. He's spent $9 million of the $14 million spent so far; that's all come from his personal fortune.

Worth noting that in The Washington Post's endorsement of their opponents, the Post said they didn't want to endorse Edwards or Raskin because they were uncompromising liberals.

For the board of education, I'm planning to vote for Johnson. I was divided between him and Dixon, but thought Johnson probably had a better chance at winning based on the support he's gotten (not sure if I'm right about this, though).