Rep. Donna Edwards, congresswoman (episode 12)

Female Trouble

Leading up to April, Rep. Donna Edwards of Prince George's County was engaged in one of the country’s most closely watched and competitive primaries, as she and Rep. Chris Van Hollen vied for the Senate seat that would be left open by Sen. Barbara Mikulski’s upcoming retirement. A close race until the final days, Edwards ultimately lost April’s primary race to Van Hollen, which Edwards described in an article on cosmopolitan.com as a case of a black woman hitting the glass ceiling with a "concussion-worthy crash." In a race in which both candidates had similar voting records, Edwards explained that claim. Edwards also spoke about an attack ad against Van Hollen that received pushback from Democratic leaders and the White House, which was run by super PAC Working for US, and to what extent she thought it negatively impacted her campaign. Edwards also discussed mentorship, being Maryland’s first black congresswoman, and how the state is poised to send an all-male delegation to Congress.