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WASHINGTON (AP) — Maryland Rep. Albert Wynn said Thursday he will resign before his term ends to take a Washington law firm job, a move that comes after the eight-term Democrat’s sound defeat in last month’s primary.

Wynn will leave his seat in June, saying in a short statement that “it was time to move into another phase of my life.”

Activist and lawyer Donna Edwards beat Wynn by 22 percentage points in the Feb. 13 primary and she is favored to win the November general election in the heavily Democratic Fourth Congressional District.

Wynn’s term runs until January 2009, but he said he expects there will be a special election to fill his vacant seat. He predicted Edwards would win and could take office as early as this summer, completing the rest of his term.

But it is up to Gov. Martin O’Malley to decide whether to call a special election, which state official say could cost up to $1.5 million. The two jurisdictions comprising the district, Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, are already scheduled to hold two special elections this year to fill vacant county council seats.

“A special election will be expensive,” said Linda Lamone, the Maryland elections administrator.

Under state law, O’Malley can choose to leave the seat vacant for the rest of the term. The governor told reporters Thursday that because of the swiftness of Wynn’s resignation, he would “have to get back to you,” about what his decision will be.
Wynn said he hoped his early departure would allow Edwards to gain seniority among the incoming freshmen members of Congress and to smooth her transition. Edwards said in a statement that she commended Wynn for “looking out for the interests of his constituents.”

But the winner of the Republican primary, Peter James, said Wynn’s move seemed more like a transfer of power between Democrats than an effort to hold a fair election. James said he has asked to speak with O’Malley about how a special election would work.
“I see this as a ploy, since Donna Edwards has name recognition, to get her in there quickly,” he said.

First elected in 1992 after serving in the Maryland General Assembly, Wynn was deeply entrenched in the district that borders Washington, immersing himself in local politics and developing a reputation as a king maker.

After easily winning his early re-election bids, he stumbled in 2006, beating Edwards by only 3 percentage points. Voters punished him for positions out of step with the party, including his initial support for the war in Iraq. Wynn later backtracked, opposing the war.

This election, Edwards also said Wynn was too cozy with big business groups that gave him money and deaf to the needs of his constituents. She attacked his vote in 2005 for a measure tightening bankruptcy rules, saying it hurt district residents now facing home foreclosures.

Wynn said he will become a partner in the firm of Dickstein Shapiro.
Associated Press writer Brian Witte in Annapolis, Md., contributed to this report.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)