Former Prince George’s state’s attorney Glenn Ivey (D) and state Del. Jazz Lewis (D-Prince George’s) announced Tuesday they are running to succeed U.S. Rep. Anthony G. Brown (D-Md.), a day after Brown said he would vacate the congressional seat to run for Maryland attorney general.

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       Ivey’s and Lewis’s announcements could be the beginning of a surge of candidates into the race for Maryland’s 4th Congressional District, which Brown has represented since 2016. The deep-blue district includes much of Prince George’s County and parts of Anne Arundel County.

       Ivey led the Prince George’s state’s attorney’s office from 2002 until 2010. He spent years as a congressional staffer and last year started his own law firm. He came in second to Brown in the bitter, six-way 2016 Democratic primary for the 4th District seat. The seat was vacated then by Donna F. Edwards when she unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. Senate. Edwards’s name is now among those being discussed as possible other contenders for the 4th District seat. Other possible candidates include Prince George’s County Council member Derrick Leon Davis (D-District 6) and state Sen. Melony Griffith (D-Prince George’s).

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       Ivey, who is married to Prince George’s County Council member Jolene Ivey (D-District 5), has long been active in local politics, including recently serving as the chair of the committee examining the Prince George’s police department’s internal policies as part of the reform work group established by County Executive Angela D. Alsobrooks.

       “Our country stands at a crossroads,” Ivey said in a news release announcing his candidacy. “At a time when many American families struggle to afford housing or healthcare, and our voting rights are under attack, I am committed to using my life’s experience to bring justice and common sense to Congress.”

       Lewis is a senior adviser to Rep. Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md), the House majority leader, and has served since 2017 in the House of Delegates, where he is the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus. In office, he has pushed legislation related to police accountability, sentencing overhauls and increasing access to healthful foods.

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       “I was born and raised in this community, and I’ve seen too many inequities pass from generation to generation. I am running with a fierce urgency of now to ensure that we don’t pass the many challenges that we face today onto the next generation,” Lewis said in a statement.

       Brown said Monday that it was too early to say whom he would support but said he is confident that a Democrat will retain the seat and that voters will have a “great choice” among those who run.