Democratic Gov. Wes Moore might still trail behind his Republican predecessor Larry Hogan in chart-topping approval ratings, but when it comes to getting his candidate across the finish line in Maryland, Moore is the clear winner.
The only person he endorsed in the primary election — Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks for U.S. Senate — ran away with the contest, despite polls showing she would likely lose the Democratic nomination to U.S. Rep. David Trone, who spent a a record-breaking $60 million of his own funds on his Senate campaign. Instead, she beat him by a margin of more than 10 points in the historic race to replace retiring Sen. Ben Cardin. And Alsobrooks, 53, could make history again if she wins in the general election this fall against 67-year-old Hogan, who secured the Republican nomination Tuesday. In that scenario, she would become only the fourth Black woman to be elected to the U.S. Senate, and the very first from Maryland.
“Listen guys, we’re just getting started,” Moore, Maryland’s first Black governor (and the country’s third), told Alsobrooks’ supporters Tuesday. “Tonight, we won the battle. Tomorrow, we wage the war — and we’re not losing. There is too much at stake.”
Given Moore’s influential backing, Alsobrooks qualifications and the momentum she has from voters determined to send a woman — and a Black woman at that — to Congress as part of the Maryland delegation (which we haven’t had since Sen. Barbara Mikulski retired in January 2017), we have to wonder: Are cracks starting to show in Hogan’s political armor?
While Hogan has been a solid closer when it comes to several of his own races — defeating favorite Anthony Brown, a Democrat, in the 2014 governor’s race and easily winning re-election four years later in this largely blue state — many of the Maryland candidates he campaigns for haven’t been as fortunate. Republican candidates Kelly Schulz (2020; governor’s race), Kathy Szeliga (2016; U.S. Senate); Matt McDaniel (2016; Baltimore City Council); Mark Plaster (2016; U.S. House of Representatives, 3rd Congressional District) and Amie Hoeber (2016; U.S. House of Representatives; 6rd Congressional District) were all endorsed by Hogan. And all ultimately lost.
