Maryland Senate: Democrats Retain a Clear Edge
The retirement of Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) has created a second open seat among the 10 the Democrats are defending this cycle. The other open seat is in California, where Sen. Barbara Boxer is retiring. While Boxer (74) and Mikulski (78) are retirement-aged, that they decided to leave now is perhaps a testament to the loss of clout from moving from the majority to the minority. It’s impossible to know, but if the Democrats had held the majority in 2014, both senators might have been less likely to retire. Retirements almost invariably make a seat more vulnerable to takeover by the other party, but these departures are well-timed for Democrats because both states are heavily Democratic and 2016 will feature presidential-level turnout. Had both senators hung around for another term, the seats probably would have come open in 2022, a midterm year where the overall political environment at this point is unknowable. So this is as good a time as any from a Democratic perspective to fill these seats with new blood. It’s somewhat reminiscent of a spate of Republican House retirements last cycle in competitive seats. The timing of these vacancies in a midterm year that appeared to be