Herman Taylor for Senate?

Former Del. Herman Taylor is working behind the scenes to build support for a bid to fill the Senate vacancy in District 14 caused by Sen. Karen Montgomery’s retirement. Taylor served two terms in the House of Delegates until he ran in a lopsided losing primary against Rep. Donna Edwards in 2010–Taylor won 9% of the vote.

The leading candidate for the Senate vacancy is Del. Craig Zucker, who has the support of retiring Sen. Montgomery as well as Dels. Anne Kaiser and Eric Luedtke.  Zucker is now serving his second term in the House of Delegates.

Taylor will have an uphill battle to win support from a majority of the Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee. Beyond his colleagues, Zucker recently gained support from African American Democratic Club, Latino Democratic Club and Coalition of Asian Pacific American Democrats. Former NAACP Leader Ben Jealous has also endorsed his candidacy.

The adroitly planned rollout of Zucker’s bid for the appointment has  aided his effort to secure the Senate seat. The delegation supports filling the delegate vacancy created by Zucker’s move to the Senate with African-American Pam Queen, a current member of the Central Committee, helping to alleviate concerns about maintaining the representation of women and expanding minority representation.

A pro-life moderate, Taylor will have trouble gaining support from a party identified solidly with abortion rights. Taylor’s run against Edwards no doubt earned him the ire of increasingly assertive progressives who celebrated her defeat of Al Wynn.