Benjamin Cardin

Benjamin Louis Cardin (born October 5, 1943) is an American politician and former United States Senator from Maryland, serving from 2007 to 2025 as a Democrat. He previously represented Maryland's 3rd congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1987 to 2007 and served in the Maryland House of Delegates from 1967 to 1987, including as Speaker from 1979 to 1987, accumulating 58 years in elected office without defeat.

Cardin chaired the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and the U.S. Helsinki Commission, emphasizing human rights, security cooperation in Europe, and opposition to authoritarian regimes. His legislative efforts included the Cardin-Lugar provision in the Dodd-Frank Act, mandating disclosure of payments by resource-extraction companies to foreign governments to combat corruption. He also advanced small business support through the Paycheck Protection Program and pushed for environmental protections in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

Benjamin Louis Cardin was born on October 5, 1943, in Baltimore, Maryland, into a Jewish family of Eastern European immigrant descent. His grandparents were Russian Jewish immigrants who operated a grocery store, and the family name was originally Kardonsky before being anglicized to Cardin.

Cardin's father, Meyer Cardin, was a lawyer, judge, and politician who served a term in the Maryland House of Delegates, instilling in his son an early appreciation for public service. His mother, Dora Green Cardin, worked as a schoolteacher. The family maintained strong ties to Jewish communal organizations, with his mother active in Hadassah and his father involved in groups such as the Jewish National Fund, Israel Bonds, and the Zionist Organization of America.

Raised in Baltimore's middle-class, first-generation American neighborhoods alongside extended family including an uncle, Maurice Cardin, who also served in the Maryland House of Delegates, Cardin grew up in a politically engaged household emphasizing Jewish values of service and community involvement. He has a brother, Howard L. Cardin, and the family's Orthodox Jewish practices, including Sabbath dinners, reinforced a sense of familial and religious duty that influenced his lifelong career trajectory.