With the House and Senate stacked for the GOP and a billionaire Republican business mogul about to enter the White House, 2017 is a strange time to be a progressive freshman member of Congress.

Adding to the challenge, especially in the face of an incoming administration that has promised to slash regulations and question climate science, new Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), a constitutional law professor, has stressed that climate change is an "overarching" concern and is considered a champion of environmental causes.

Nonetheless, Raskin is full of energy after emerging victorious from a competitive primary campaign that set spending records for Maryland's suburban 8th District to replace Chris Van Hollen (D), who was elected in November to a Senate seat.

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