Deep-Pockets Independent Shakes Up MD Senate Race

Dems, GOP are very unhappy

The U.S. Senate campaign in Maryland was plodding along quietly this fall. Democrat Ben Cardin, the incumbent liberal seeking a second term, was blithely fending off upstart conservative Republican Dan Bongino, a political novice who left a career in the Secret Service to try to end Cardin's 46-year career in elected office.

Suddenly in September, independent Rob Sobhani began popping up on TV screens across Maryland. He talked directly to voters about his plans to create thousands of jobs with billions in private investment and he was spending millions of his own money to get his message out.