The daughters of recently deceased Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) are choosing to back his former aide, Harry Spikes, instead of his wife, Maya Rockeymoore Cummings, in the race to fill the seat he held.
Cummings died in October due to complications “concerning longstanding health challenges,” his office said. Following his death, over 30 people announced bids for the seat Cummings held, including some two dozen Democrats.
Rockeymoore Cummings, 48, Cummingss second wife, is one of the highest-profile contenders. She has said her husband wanted her to take the seat he held if he died.
“I am, of course, devastated at the loss of my spouse, but his spirit is with me,” Rockeymoore Cummings, a public policy consultant who was head of the Maryland Democratic Party before announcing her bid, told the Baltimore Sun. “Im going to run this race and Im going to run it hard, as if hes still right here by my side.”
But daughter Jennifer Cummings, 37, said in a statement that she is supporting Spikes in the race.
Jennifer Cummings and her sister, Adia, appeared with Spikes in November when he announced his candidacy.
“My sister and I are supporting Harry Spikes for Congress because for the past 15 years hes worked alongside our father to meet the needs of the people of the 7th Congressional District,” she said in a statement obtained by the Washington Post. “Harry knows this community. Our father often said of himself that he was an ordinary man called to an extraordinary mission, and Harry embodies that same spirit.”
“Dad would say, This isnt about me. This is bigger than me,'” the statement saiRead More – Source
