Hardly breaking news -- as evidenced by this photo, he's been making plans for a while -- but Keiffer J. Mitchell Jr. confirmed this morning that he is running for a seat in the Maryland House of Delegates.
Mitchell, who was a Baltimore City Council member for 12 years before his unsuccessful bid to become mayor in 2007, describes public service as in his blood. Mitchell's grandfather was the late Clarence M. Mitchell Jr., a prominent figure in the civil rights movement, and his great-uncle was the late Parren J. Mitchell, the Maryland's first African-American U.S. congressman.
Since the mayoral loss, Mitchell has been working as a small-business lender at Wachovia and recently started a consulting firm. The Bolton Hill resident has been pondering a return to politics for the better part of a year.
"I'd bring energy and ideas" to the General Assembly, Mitchell said. "I know this city. I criss-crossed it running for mayor."
He'll likely be in a Democratic primary race flush with candidates. All three of the District 44 delegates -- Keith E. Haynes, Ruth M. Kirk and Melvin L. Stukes -- are running again, and NAACP's Baltimore chapter president, Marvin "Doc" Cheatham, has milled a bid. Wesley Wood, a former aide to Mitchell and to Gov. Parris N. Glendening, also is in the mix.
**Update** As several commenters have noted, Matt Charvat also is running. In an e-mail he just sent me, he described himself as a Baltimore native who works in the city's Human Resources Department.
"I'm not targeting anyone," Mitchell said when asked if he was after a particular delegate's seat. "It's not my job to critique others."