Daughters Of Elijah Cummings Back Aide Harry Spikes: Report

BALTIMORE, MD — Jennifer Cummings, daughter of the late Congressman Elijah E. Cummings, released a statement Tuesday supporting her father's longtime aide in the race for his 7th Congressional District seat. According to a report, she and her sister, Adia, are supporting Harry Spikes because he worked alongside their father for 15 years to meet the needs of the people.

Omitted from the statement is support for Cummings' wife, Maya Rockeymoore Cummings.

“Harry knows this community. Our father often said of himself that he was ‘an ordinary man called to an extraordinary mission,’ and Harry embodies that same spirit," Jennifer Cummings said in a statement published by the Washington Post. She also said Spikes represents the "next generation of leadership."

A total of 24 Democrats and eight Republicans are running in the Feb. 4 special primary election that will determine who serves the remainder of Cummings' term. Cummings died of cancer on Oct. 17 at the age of 68. First elected in 1996, he served the 7th District in the U.S. House of Representatives, which includes the city of Baltimore, most of Howard County and part of Baltimore County.

Among those running is Cummings' widow and chair of the Maryland Democratic Party, Maya Rockeymoore Cummings. When announcing her bid, Rockeymoore Cummings told the Baltimore Sun she is "going to run this race and I'm going to run it hard, as if he's still right here by my side."

Kweisi Mfume also is running to reclaim the 7th District seat, he announced earlier this month.Mfume previously was elected to the seat, but left Congress in 1996 to become president of the NAACP. Cummings was elected following Mfume's departure.

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