Southern Maryland Online has this interesting story about Rob Sobhani, who is an independent candidate for U.S. Senate in Maryland. He has already spent $4,600,000 on his campaign, and is in second place in the polls, ahead of the Republican nominee but behind incumbent Senator Benjamin Cardin, a Democrat.

Sobhani has roots in Iran. The fourth candidate in the race, Libertarian nominee, Dean Ahmad, has Palestinian roots. Southern Maryland Online is an on-line newspaper that serves Charles, Calvert, and St. Marys Counties.

Sobhani will probably set a new record for a U.S. Senate candidate in Maryland who is not a major party nominee. The highest share of the vote in Maryland history for anyone running for U.S. Senate, who is not a major party nominee, is 13.1%. That was obtained in 1968 by George Mahoney, an independent who was opposed to civil rights laws concerning discrimination in housing.