Democratic State Sen. Morgan Carroll announced today that she is giving up her leadership position as Senate Minority Leader, but plans to remain in the state Senate despite running in one of the most, if not the most, competitive Congressional races in the country. It looks like not even Carroll thinks she can win in the Sixth Congressional District.
To be fair, the District has proved to be a tough nut to crack for Democrats, which seem intent on shoving their most out-of-touch politicians into the race. Given the odds, it’s no wonder that liberal Carroll opted to keep her day job through the time that she’s term-limited in 2016.
The real question is whether her advisers and donors are okay with her keeping her job. Not only does this signal her lack of confidence in her ability to run a successful race, but could make running a successful race more difficult since she will be distracted by constituent concerns throughout her race. In addition, appointing a Democratic successor to her position would certainly give the successor a leg up in re-election.
That’s probably why we have heard rumors that her caucus, her donors, and frankly, damn near everyone, was begging Carroll to leave the State Senate, but Carroll knows best. And, if this frustrates her donors and hinders her Congressional race, we are definitely in support of her staying in the Senate even though we think she’s been a force for economic chaos.