WASHINGTON -- Rep. Donna F. Edwards said Friday she will likely make a decision in a matter of days about whether to run for Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski's seat in 2016.
"I'm really close," Edwards said in an interview with The Baltimore Sun on Friday. "This is really a critical decision and I just want to make sure that I'm doing it in a thoughtful way -- talking to friends and supporters and looking at the numbers."
If elected, Edwards, 56, would be the first African American to represent Maryland in the Senate. She would be only the second black woman to serve in the Senate's history. Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois served a single term from 1993 to 1999.
If she enters the race, Edwards would face Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Montgomery County, in next April's primary. A dozen other potential candidates -- including six other members of the House delegation from Maryland and Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake -- are considering a campaign.
Edwards, who defeated 15-year incumbent Al Wynn in the 2008 Democratic primary, would be a potentially powerful candidate. A pair of liberal groups, Democracy for America and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, have already indicated their support for her.
Though Edwards has not raised heaps of campaign money in the past, that could likely be overcome with outside help from a group such as EMILY's List, which works to elect females to office.