Tony Campbell (politician)

In the Republican primary held on June 26, 2018, Campbell won with 29.2% of the vote in a crowded field of 11 candidates, carrying 13 of Maryland's 23 counties and Baltimore City.[13]

Campbell's campaign in the general election stressed national security and smaller government, saying his priority as Senator would be "securing America' infrastructure against foreign actors".[14] On education, he called for an end to such programs as Common Core, advocating a "return of authority" over schools from the Federal government to the state level. He also campaigned for "reasonable tuition rates to allow for every student to achieve their goal of a four year college degree".[15] In an interview with the Hagerstown Herald-Mail newspaper, Campbell said he advocates a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution to curb Federal government deficit spending, although he generally supports the Trump administration's positions on the economy and foreign policy.[16]

In an October 7, 2018, televised debate described by the Washington Post as "feisty",[17] Campbell criticized his Democratic Party opponent, incumbent Ben Cardin, who won a third term, saying the incumbent should have done more about Baltimore's high crime rate and poorly performing schools. In response, Cardin replied that these are primarily responsibilities of local government.[18] Campbell also said that Cardin was part of the partisanship in the Senate and criticized his opponent for voting against the confirmation of US Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Cardin said that he has "worked across the aisle" on bipartisan issues, such as environmental concerns over the Chesapeake Bay.[17] When questioned about the likelihood of success in challenging the heavily-favored, long-term Democratic incumbent in the strongly blue state of Maryland,[19] Campbell said that Republican Gov. Larry Hogan's success at the polls in the 2014 gubernatorial election "...tells me people are ready for change. The incumbent has been in Congress for 32 years and there's not much to show for it", Campbell charged.[20]

On October 18, he made a joint appearance with Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ben Jealous on OZY's televised Take on America show hosted by Carlos Watson to discuss the topic, "Black Men in Baltimore".  The program focused on solutions to the challenges facing many inner-city African-American residents, in particular poverty, crime, and drugs.[21]

In a CNN interview aired on October 23, Sen. Cardin called on the US government to furnish humanitarian aid for a caravan of several thousand Central American migrants heading to the US border through Mexico, describing their situation as  "desperate" and saying, "America's strength is in our values. We have been a leader standing up for people at risk". Campbell strongly disagreed with Cardin over providing help to them, posting on social media that the "illegal immigrant caravan ... seeks to undermine our country's sovereignty by bum-rushing our border".[22]

Campbell lost in the general election held on November 7, 2018, receiving 31% or 659,380 votes to Cardin's 64% (1,363,259 votes).[23] Had he won he would have become Maryland's first African-American Senator.[18]

Campbell has authored two non-fiction books. He wrote America Today: Political Theory and Practical Politics in 2014, an anthology relating the thoughts of political theorists as far back as Plato to contemporary American politics.[7] It is a textbook intended for use in political science, pre-law, and history courses.[24]

His second book, A More Perfect Union: Connecting the Dots Between Today's Politics and the History of Political Thought, was written in 2017. With its title drawn from the Preamble to the United States Constitution, A More Perfect Union discusses the Constitution's application to political discourse and policy making in the modern era.[25]

• Campbell for Senate 2018 Campaign
• C-SPAN debate
• On the Hill interview, WTTG-TV, Washington, DC