Democratic Sen. Barbara Mikulski has been cruising to re-election for almost four decades. After a career as a social worker, Mikulski won a seat on the Baltimore City Council in 1970, serving until her election to the U.S. House in 1976. In her five House races, Mikulski’s lowest winning percentage was 68 percent.
In 1986, Mikulski ran for an open Senate seat, beating Republican Linda Chavez, 61 percent to 39 percent. She was re-elected in 1992 and 1998 with 71 percent of the vote both times. In 2004, she faced GOP state Sen. and businessman E.J. Pipkin, who she defeated 65 percent to 34 percent. In fact, the only race that Mikulski has lost was in 1974 when she was her party’s Senate nominee.
Mikulski is an adept politician who focuses on her constituents as much as she does on policy. Seats on the Appropriations and Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committees afford her many opportunities to bring home federal dollars and programs. It helps that Mikulski is from a solidly blue state where 57 percent of voters are registered
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The Cook Political Report is an independent, non-partisan newsletter that analyzes elections and campaigns for the US House of Representatives, US Senate, Governors and President as well as American political trends.
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