Remember how Trump trashed Baltimore? How he severely criticized Rep. Elijah Cummings? Well, the GOP strategist who inspired Trump’s rants is now running for the late Cummings’ Congressional seat.
Kimberly Klacik, 37, who is Black, has thrown her hat in the ring for the open slot, which Cummings held for more than two decades.
Social media posts by the Baltimore County Republican official that highly criticized Cummings prompted Trump to verbally attack Cummings, who died Oct. 17 of cancer.
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Klacik currently runs a nonprofit and is a member of a county Republican Central Committee.
“I am throwing my hat in the race for the 7th Congressional District,” Klacik announced in an interview. “I’ve seen firsthand what a lot of people are going through. Our violent crime is up 52 percent in Baltimore County and it’s rising in Baltimore City, too. I don’t think it’s a coincidence.”
“Klacik gained attention in July when she posted videos to social media of blight and trash in West Baltimore. Her postings caught the eye of Fox News, which showed them, and then Trump, who launched a blistering attack against Cummings. That kicked off a weeklong war of words between the Republican president and boosters of deep blue Baltimore,” The Baltimore Sun reported.
Reporter April Ryan recently tweeted that Cummings “never got over the attack on him and the city. It is all because of her.”
Klacik will have to win over the district’s voters, who are 68 percent Democratic. There are just 16 percent Republican voters in the district.
Democratic candidates for the seat include former congressman and NAACP President Kweisi Mfume and state Del. Talmadge Branch. State Sen. Jill P. Carter has formed an exploratory committee. Former Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake is also considering running. Cummings’ widow, Maya Rockeymoore Cummings, who is chairwoman of the Maryland Democratic Party, confirmed that she will run for his House seat, The Grio reported.
The field will be crowded as eight other Democrats have formally filed to run.
The Maryland primary election is scheduled for Feb. 4, 2020. The general election is scheduled for April 28, 2020.
