Frederick County since Milton Urner in 1883. During his eight-year career in the House, Mathias established himself as a member of the liberal wing of the Republican Party, which was the most influential at the time. Mathias voted in favor of the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1968, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. He was the author of the "Mathias Amendment" to the unsuccessful 1966 civil rights bill on open housing. Concerning environmental issues, Mathias sponsored legislation to make the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal a national park, and supported other conservation initiatives along the Potomac River. He also served on the Judiciary Committee and the Committee on the District of Columbia. As a member of the D.C. Committee, Mathias was a proponent of establishing home rule in the District of Columbia. United States Senate career Election of 1968: unseating Brewster Leading up to the United States Senate elections of 1968, Mathias' name was frequently mentioned as a potential challenger to Democratic incumbent Daniel Brewster, his college roommate. Fellow Republican Congressman Rogers Morton of was also considering a run at Brewster's seat, but was dissuaded by Republican party leaders in the state in favor of a Mathias candidacy. Their decision was largely due to the geography of Mathias' seat. As representative of the 6th district, he already had established name recognition in both the Baltimore and Washington, D.C., metropolitan areas, the more densely populated and liberal areas of the state. Morton's seat was anchored in the more rural Eastern Shore. Mathias' seat was also more likely to stay in Republican hands. While Morton's seat had been in Republican hands for all but four years since 1947 due to its socially conservative bent, it still voted for Democrats downballot. Mathias had also established a more liberal voting record, which was argued to serve him better in a state with a 3-1 Democratic advantage in registered voters. Mathias officially declared his candidacy for the Senate on February 10, 1968, calling for troop reductions in the Vietnam War, and identifying urban blight, racial discrimination, welfare reform, and improving public schools as major issues. As the campaign drew on, the two primary issues became the war and crime. Mathias argued that the extensive bombing campaigns in North Vietnam should be reduced, while Brewster had argued for increasing bombardment. Brewster adopted a hard line stance on law and order, while Mathias advocated addressing