Have you heard? Ben Cardin faces another challenge to his U.S. Senate seat—in the form of a Potomac businessman who was also once a professor of political economy at Georgetown University.
The Maryland State Board of Elections has accepted 77,000 signatures submitted by Rob Sobhani, certifying him for the November ballot, according to a WBAL report. He will run as an independent against incumbent Democrat Ben Cardin, Republican challenger Dan Bongino and four other candidates.
“Our politics is broken,” Sobhani says in a television ad that began airing Thursday, according to Marylandjuice.com. “Career politicians, Democrats and Republicans just blame each other, and cater to special interests. The system’s corrupt, it’s failing us.”
Sobhani told WBAL that he plans to secure funding for affordable housing in Baltimore, promote Maryland exports, expand medical research at Johns Hopkins and other Maryland schools and upgrade Maryland transportation infrastructure. In total he’s proposing to secure more than $5.5 billion for these projects, which he says can be completed largely with private funding.
Sobhani is running as an Independent, but has twice before run for Senate as a Republican—in 1992 and 2000.
Bob
8:29 pm on Friday, September 7, 2012
Cardin needs to go, along with Van Hollen. How did Van Hollen become a multi-millionair in just a few short years? How?
Julia Potkin
10:01 pm on Friday, September 7, 2012
Exact same with Cardin. 50 years in politics always on the public payroll and he has managed to amass a fortune, living in a massive mansion in Baltimore, of course away from the boarded up row-houses there. Man, must be a lot of over-time paychecks he earned. Uncle Benz has been living high on the hog!
But thats how when you literally inherit your first entry into public "service!" His very powerful uncle 'Maurice' Cardin handed his seat to young Ben in the State Legislator, half a century ago! Julia
The_legal_immigrant
9:49 am on Saturday, September 8, 2012
"affordable housing in Baltimore" ??
How about lowering taxes and stimulating business?
Know priorities first, then run.
Lewis G
3:57 pm on Tuesday, October 2, 2012
He is running to stimulate business! Look at his website!
Total-JK
1:03 pm on Saturday, September 8, 2012
Legal immigrant did you read the article, though he doesn't say anything about lowering taxes, he has 5 plans for stimulating business..... and if your username implies that you think immigration is an important issue, he's written a book about immigration.
Michael Shapiro
2:12 pm on Monday, September 10, 2012
A bunch of vague, statements with no basis in fact.
5.5 Billion won't begin to deal with the required upgrades in transportation infrastructure. You'd be talking about a serious upgrade and more lanes (a la VA) to the Beltway, from the river, on the Am Legion bridge to at least I95.
Secure funding for affordable housing in Balto? To make a significant impact, the costs would be enormous and would require significantly disrupting lives that might benefit from disruption, but who and how?
Expand medical research at Hopkins? First, Hopkins is a private institution so the State has no business involving itself in that school. If he is talking about UMD Med School, that is fine, but why Hopkins, when it has just bought 2 new hospitals (1 in MD, 1 in DC) so, unless he is talking about turning one of these into a teaching hospital and giving preference to MD students, why should the general citizens of Maryland foot the tab?
By the way, where does he propose to get the 5.5 Billion? Private sources is a very loose and undefined area.
Jay
8:14 pm on Tuesday, September 11, 2012
I like Bongino. He's not promising the moon, former Secret Service, fiscal conservative, pro limited government, pro-preserving Constitutional freedom. What Sobahni and Cardin are talking about, those days are over.
Lewis G
3:58 pm on Tuesday, October 2, 2012
I'm excited by the prospect of a successful businessmen running as an Independent. I want to hear him debate Cardin and see what he has to say for himself! All Cardin does is spend more money! Sobhani has answers, and his supporters want to see him in the debate!