Wearing a gray pantsuit and white Chuck Taylor sneakers, Angela Allbrooks was in the middle of a whirlwind day of campaigning in Maryland's vote-heavy suburbs last week. That's when her constituents asked her the question on everyone's mind. Do Democrats have the best chance of keeping the state's U.S. Senate seat in Democratic hands?
It's an unfamiliar question for deep-blue Maryland, which hasn't had a Republican senator in nearly 40 years. But the state's usually quiet Senate race has heated up this year after popular Republican former Gov. Larry Hogan decided to run.
Democrats in the state are currently working hard to determine which candidate has the advantage of defeating Hogan. The primaries scheduled for Tuesday will pit Prince George's County Executive Allbrooks, who is seeking to become Maryland's first black and second female senator, and David, a wealthy third-term congressman. -Congressman Trone will face off. He broke his own money record, spending more than $61 million of his own money and flooding the airwaves with TV ads to ensure his victory.
Perhaps because the stakes have risen, the race has become increasingly negative as it has intensified, dividing Democrats in and out of Congress. Congressional leaders support Trone, but all but one Democratic member of the state's congressional delegation supports Allbrooks. Tron also drew support from several black lawmakers from other states after he used a racial slur during a congressional hearing. Tron later apologized for this comment, saying he had meant to say something else.
Voter Barbara Peart, 76, who asked Mr. Allbrooks about his chances last week, said she doubted Republicans would win the seat and flip the Senate and advance former President Donald J. Trump's policies. He said he did it because he was afraid that he might
“It's scary because this is arguably the most important race in a long time,” said Mrs. Peart, a Democrat from Columbia, Maryland. “We can't afford to lose the Senate,” she said.
The case of Mr. Allbrooks, 53, is as follows. She is a charismatic candidate who will unite and excite her party and drive women and black voters to the polls. She was chosen primarily by the state's Democratic establishment and is less prone to gaffes and mistakes than Trone, who has a more free-spirited style. Her background as a former prosecutor will give her a tough stance on crime centrists in the general election. And in a year when abortion is expected to become a defining issue, her supporters say it's better to let women take care of it.
“As women, we don't want people talking about us and making decisions about us without us,” Albrooks said in an interview.
The 68-year-old Tron's lawsuit centers on money, but it also involves bipartisan appeals. With the wealth he made as owner of Total Wine and More, Trone's personal wealth has helped the national Democratic Party move into more conservative-leaning states like Montana and Ohio, where party seats are at stake. Resources will be able to be invested. He could also use his own money to defeat Mr. Hogan. Thanks in part to his work fighting the opioid scourge, Trone has consistently been able to attract enough Republican votes from the state's rural areas to win in battleground districts. And he is a better businessman than Hogan, a position expected to appeal to centrist voters concerned about economic management.
“This is probably going to be an expensive race,” Tron said in an interview, adding that being self-funded “will allow me to spend money on other things.”
The race to replace Sen. Ben Cardin, who has held the seat since 2007 and is retiring, is currently heating up. After leading in early polls, Tron is statistically locked in a tie with Allbrooks, according to the latest Emerson College poll. Both candidates have an early advantage in the polls against Mr. Hogan, a top recruit for Republican leader Mitch McConnell.
As the primary approached, the race became even more tense. Tron's surrogate mother attacked Albrooks for needing “training wheels,” prompting 650 black women to sign a letter condemning him. The congressman disparagingly called Prince George's elected officials who support Mr. Alsobrooks “low-level.” Mr. Allbrooks and his allies have also criticized Mr. Tron for using the derogatory term “jigaboo'' to explain the Republican theory on tax rates during a recent hearing. (In his apology, he said he wanted to say “bugaboo,” which meant intimidation tactics.)
“That's why he's a dangerous candidate in the general election,” Allbrooks said in an interview. “He made comments that alienated a large portion of the base.”
Tron dismissed the criticism. He admitted he was rough around the edges, but said voters don't care “if you're not a smooth, polished, perfect talker.”
“That's what being a career politician is about,” he said. “I'm not a career politician.”
The two also sparred over money. Tron accused Allbrooks of beholden to special interests, having received campaign contributions from Exxon, Pfizer, Cigna, the National Restaurant Association and others.
Albrooks pointed out that Tron's business has a history of funding right-wing politicians such as Texas Governor Greg Abbott and the state's attorney general, Ken Paxton, and that donations are Tron explains that the cost is
“Right now he's talking about things like not taking money from super PACs, because he's a super PAC too,” Allbrooks said. “He's a super PAC. He forgot to mention that part.”
Neither of us leave anything to chance.
On a recent Monday, Allbrooks campaigned around Howard County with County Executive Calvin Ball, pitching his cause at senior centers, early voting locations where voting has already begun, libraries and Whole Foods supermarkets. sued.
Sid Henkin, 79, of Columbia, said he had already voted for Albrooks when he entered the store to shop. She said she was inspired by seeing savvy Democrats support her, including some of her friends in politics. “I only accept that she was following the advice of someone she trusted,” he said.
The next day, Tron also campaigned in a suit and sneakers, reaching out to a crowd at an event at Congregation B'nai Israel in Rockville. He told the story of his rise from growing up poor to working hard to establish his business and earn a lot of money.
That night, he held a “Get Out the Vote” rally at a movie theater complex in Silver Spring with Rep. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat and leading Senate candidate. Mr. Schiff, who achieved hero status on the left by leading Mr. Trump's first impeachment, pitched Mr. Tron as a progressive who could work with Republicans.
“In order to protect our democracy, we have to make the economy work for people. And we have business experience and the challenges of meeting what it takes to do that: the risks, the hardships, the challenges of meeting salaries. We need people like David who understand and use that success to help others. He helps us meet not just the challenges to our democracy, but the challenges to our economy. It helps us cope,” Schiff said to applause.
Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries and other House Democratic leaders, including Reps. Catherine M. Clark (Massachusetts) and Rep. Pete Aguilar (California), the No. 2 and No. 3 Democrats in the House, spoke to Mr. Tron. He has come forward in support.
Baltimore state Sen. Jill P. Carter said she supports Tron because she sees him as an outsider who is not controlled by anyone.
“She's a machine politician,” Carter said of Allbrooks. “And that's the problem for me.”
Most of Maryland's leading politicians are behind Mr. Allsbrooks, and his congressional delegation includes all but one other Democrat. Her Allsbrooks ally, Rep. Jamie Raskin, gave her a red, white and blue necklace to wear on the Senate floor once she was sworn into office. Sen. Chris Van Hollen praised her efforts to build the FBI's new headquarters. Maryland.
“Angela Alsobrooks played a key role there,” he said.
Mr. Trone sought to shore up support from the state's elected officials, so he went to see Mr. Alsobrooks' mentor, Rep. Steny H. Hoyer, the top Democrat in the House.
“David Trone came in and said to me, 'I know you're going to be on Angela's side,' because everyone knows I'm close to Angela,” Hoyer said. Told. “I pushed her girlfriend. I cheered her girlfriend. And I think Angela will be our number one candidate.”
Tron said, “You could beat Hogan, too.'' But I said to David, “There aren't any women in the Maryland delegation.'' And I think it's very important to have all segments of the population represented. ”