Former Vice President Joe Biden announced his bid for president Thursday morning and two Maryland lawmakers immediately endorsed his run.
State Sen. James C. Rosapepe (D-Prince George’s) and Del. Erek Barron (D-Prince George’s) launched BidenforMaryland.com on Thursday morning.
Barron was Biden’s counsel and policy adviser in the U.S. Senate, working with Biden on criminal justice reform and protecting victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. Barron was also a member of former President Obama’s transition team.
Rosapepe, who was U.S. ambassador to Romania from 1998 to 2001 under President Clinton, went with Biden to foreign policy meetings in Romania in 1999.
“You don’t have to know Joe Biden to support him. But it makes it easy,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter to Democrats throughout Maryland. “For us, it’s not about why he can beat Donald Trump — though he will. Or why he’ll stand up for working families — though he’ll do that too. It’s because we’ve seen Joe’s values and skills up close and personal. He knows what made America great (our best values) — and how to keep it that way (his skills).”
Biden officially announced his 2020 candidacy Thursday morning in a video release. Almost two dozen Democrats are in the White House race.
“We have a lot of good candidates with great potential to be good presidents,” Barron and Rosapepe wrote. “We have one candidate we know can win for our party — and for our values.”
Danielle E. Gaines
Contributor
Danielle Gaines worked for Maryland Matters from September 2018 to January 2024. She covered government and politics for Maryland Matters for two years before moving into an editing position, ultimately serving as editor-in-chief for nearly three years. Previously, she spent six years at The Frederick News-Post ― as the paper’s principal government and politics reporter for half that time, covering courts and legal affairs before that. She also reported for the now-defunct The Gazette of Politics and Business in Maryland and previously worked as a county government and education reporter at The Merced Sun-Star in California’s Central Valley.
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