Maya Rockeymoore Cummings, the widow of the late Rep. Elijah Cummings Elijah Eugene CummingsBlack GOP candidate accuses Behar of wearing black face in heated interview Overnight Health Care: US won't join global coronavirus vaccine initiative | Federal panel lays out initial priorities for COVID-19 vaccine distribution | NIH panel: 'Insufficient data' to show treatment touted by Trump works House Oversight Democrats to subpoena AbbVie in drug pricing probe MORE (D-Md.), announced Monday that she will launch a campaign to replace her husband as the representative of Maryland's 7th Congressional District.

“I am, of course, devastated at the loss of my spouse, but his spirit is with me. I’m going to run this race and I’m going to run it hard, as if he’s still right here by my side," Rockeymoore Cummings, 48, told The Baltimore Sun in an interview about a month after her husband's death.

ADVERTISEMENT

Cummings, 68, died in mid-October “due to complications concerning longstanding health challenges," his office said. The longtime congressman had become a powerful figure in Washington as the chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee and had played an integral part in investigations of President Trump Donald John TrumpFederal prosecutor speaks out, says Barr 'has brought shame' on Justice Dept. Former Pence aide: White House staffers discussed Trump refusing to leave office Progressive group buys domain name of Trump's No. 1 Supreme Court pick MORE.

Rockeymoore Cummings expressed her intention to run for her late husband's seat the same day she resigned as chairwoman of the Maryland Democratic Party. She invited supporters to gather in her home for a "special announcement" on Tuesday, according to emails obtained by The Washington Post.

Rockeymoore Cummings said that her husband wanted her to run for his Baltimore area congressional seat.