Maya Rockeymoore Cummings, widow of the late Rep. Elijah Cummings, on Monday said she will run for her husband’s vacated seat in Maryland’s 7th Congressional District.
The 48-year-old Maryland Democratic Party chair said she would formally announce her campaign Tuesday, nearly a month after her husband died from cancer at age 68.
“I have the background and the focus and the commitment and the ability to take the reins and to make a good run for this seat,” Rockeymoore Cummings said Monday on MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show.” “I fought right alongside Elijah for the last 12 years, and we knew each other another 10 years before that.”
Rockeymoore Cummings also said she will undergo surgery Friday for a preventative double mastectomy. Afterward, she plans to hit the campaign trail.
“This was scheduled before running for office was ever a consideration before Elijah’s health took a really bad turn for the worse,” she said. “He went with me to the doctor’s appointment where I got a consultation about this option and he agreed and begged me several times before he passed away to prioritize myself.”
