By Tom Howell Jr. – The Washington Times – Tuesday, November 5, 2024

Democrat Angela Alsobrooks won the Senate race in deep-blue Maryland on Tuesday over Republican Larry Hogan, a former two-term governor who failed to convert his popularity into an upset win.

Ms. Alsobrooks enjoyed a double-digit polling lead heading into Election Day but the race remained fraught, with Mr. Hogan relying on a bipartisan record and name recognition to court voters from the Democratic Party.

The Associated Press called the race for Ms. Alsobrooks before 10 p.m., as she held a solid lead over Mr. Hogan with more than half of the vote reported.

Ms. Alsobrooks won by warning that Mr. Hogan would buttress a GOP majority and its priorities. She was buoyed by direct support from Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat who took the unusual step of backing her in the primary against nine other candidates.

Former President Barack Obama backed her in ads, and Vice President Kamala Harris told voters she was “counting on you to support my friend Angela Alsobrooks.”

Ms. Alsobrooks, 53, rose through the ranks in the legal field and county government and, in 2018, became the first Black woman elected to the office of county executive in Maryland history. She emphasized public safety and education during her Senate campaign, saying she broke ground on 10 new schools, and empathized with voters by pointing to her role as the mother raising her daughter, Alex, in Upper Marlboro.

“In her first election, Alex got to vote for her mom for Senate, and for Kamala Harris to be our next president,” Ms. Alsobrooks said on X after the pair voted.

Ms. Alsobrooks will fill the seat being vacated by Sen. Ben Cardin, a Democrat who decided not to seek a fourth term. Maryland’s other senator, Chris Van Hollen, is also a Democrat. The state hasn’t sent a Republican senator to Capitol Hill since Charles “Mac” Mathias in the 1980s.

Mr. Hogan, 68, served as a Republican governor from 2015 to 2023. He openly courted Harris supporters in an attempt to win over ticket-splitters in the state, which has conservative pockets, particularly in Western Maryland and the Eastern Shore, but is rather liberal overall.

“It’s been really great momentum over the past couple of weeks. We really feel like we’re surging, and I feel like we’re going to pull off the biggest upset in America tonight,” Mr. Hogan said Tuesday after casting his ballot in Anne Arundel County.

During the campaign, Mr. Hogan highlighted his support for abortion rights and efforts as governor to cut taxes and tolls.  He criticized former President Donald Trump, and much of his campaign was centered on his willingness to work across the aisle.

Mr. Hogan pointed to his work as governor to staff schools with police officers, given ongoing concern about classroom shootings, and criticized Ms. Alsobrooks for owing back taxes on a D.C. property because it no longer qualified for special exemptions when it was deeded to her from relatives in 2003.

Yet Democrats spent heavily on the race and emphasized the basic math in the Senate.

Democrats were clinging to a vulnerable Senate majority heading into Election Day, so every seat mattered in determining which party would set the agenda and hold the committee gavels next year.

Mr. Hogan considered a presidential run this cycle as voters grumbled about their choices at the top of the ticket. After passing on a presidential run, he opted for a Senate bid after GOP leaders pleaded for him to run.

Ms. Alsobrooks used those dynamics to her advantage, telling supporters in fundraising pitches that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and other senior Republicans were using Maryland to seize the majority.

She said too much was at stake to trust someone on the GOP side.

“The Republican Party has declared war on women’s reproductive freedoms,” she said during a debate with Mr. Hogan. “We recognize that this party of chaos and division that is led by Donald Trump is one that cannot lead our country and also has severe consequences for Marylanders.”

Mr. Hogan hit back by saying he would vote to codify abortion protections that were enshrined in the Roe v. Wade decision of 1973 until the Supreme Court overturned it in 2022.

Mr. Hogan’s relationship with Mr. Trump was a subplot of the race.

Mr. Trump endorsed Mr. Hogan, forcing the Republican candidate to reject the support.

“I’m not supporting Trump and not voting for Trump. You know, my position is very clear,” Mr. Hogan told WTOP in the final days of the campaign.

He was responding to reports he embraced the endorsement in private.

“The guy said something about Trump hating me, and I just said, ‘Actually, Trump endorsed me,’ Mr. Hogan said. “That’s all there is to it. It didn’t change my position on that endorsement and there’s no story there whatsoever.”

While Mr. Hogan grappled with Mr. Trump, Ms. Alsobrooks embraced the Democrats’ heavy hitters, highlighting Ms. Harris’ ad on her behalf and welcoming Mr. Obama’s voice of support during a phone banking session.

 “She has consistently looked out for and championed ordinary folk,” Mr. Obama said.

• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at [email protected].