Del. Kumar Barve is trying to close the endorsement gap between him and state Sen. Jamie Raskin in the 8th District Congressional race.
Barve’s campaign announced Thursday that Maryland House of Delegates Speaker Michael Busch will endorse Barve at an event Monday at the Rockville Memorial Library.
The announcement said other elected officials would be present to voice their support for Barve, the longtime state lawmaker from Gaithersburg who served as majority leader in the House of Delegates from 2003 to earlier this year.
Barve and Raskin are two of five candidates who have officially declared for the Democratic primary to replace Rep. Chris Van Hollen, who is seeking the U.S. Senate seat to be vacated by Sen. Barbara Mikulski.
Del. Ana Sol Gutierrez, former Obama administration aide Will Jawando and former Marriott International executive Kathleen Matthews also have announced for the primary.
Former County Council member Valerie Ervin has said she’s planning to announce her candidacy soon. Others, such as District 16 Del. Ariana Kelly and District 18 Del. Jeff Waldstreicher, have said they are considering a run.
As Matthews announced her candidacy last week, Raskin’s campaign announced the endorsement of his state Senate colleague Susan Lee.
A press release from the Raskin campaign pointedly noted that District 16, which Lee represents, contains “the largest pocket of Democratic primary voters” in 8th District congressional seat, which includes much of Montgomery County as well as portions of Carroll and Frederick counties.
None of the announced Democratic primary candidates, all of whom are Montgomery County residents, live in District 16.
State Sens. Richard Madaleno of Kensington and Karen Montgomery of Brookeville have also endorsed Raskin.
