Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks has defeated U.S. Rep. David Trone in the hotly contested Democratic primary race for Maryland’s open U.S. Senate seat, NBC News projects.
Her opponent in this fall’s general election is set to be former Gov. Larry Hogan, who served two terms as a popular Republican governor in the highly Democratic state. On Tuesday night, he easily won his party’s nomination for Senate, according to NBC News projections.
“People in Maryland know pretty well,” Hogan told News4. “They voted for me twice in two different elections in a very, very blue state. I know this is a different kind of race, but we’re going to try to go out there and meet every voter in every county and try to convince them that I’m going to be the same guy that they’ve support for the past eight years as governor.”
The primary tees up what could be a heavyweight fight in the general election. When it comes to the general election, this Senate race will have national consequences. Democrats hold a razor-thin majority in the Senate.
The seat up for grabs has belonged to Sen. Ben Cardin, a Democrat, since 2007. However, Cardin announced last year he would not seek re-election in 2024.
The Senate race in the solidly Democratic state would normally be a snoozer, but Hogan is a candidate unlike any other Republican. Over his two terms as governor, he won a significant number of Democratic votes and stayed popular across a wide swath of the state. He’s been a sharp Trump critic, which endears him to a segment of the Democratic electorate and can blunt attacks from the left.
Meanwhile, Alsobrooks notched a striking win in a contentious primary in which she was dramatically outspent.
Her opponent, Trone, spent more than $61 million from his personal fortune as an owner of Total Wine & More and saturated the airwaves with TV ads during the primary. Those ads took a decidedly negative turn in the final weeks of the campaign.
- See more primary results here for Maryland & West Virginia
Alsobrooks overcame Trone’s financial advantage by winning endorsements from the state’s top Democrats, including Gov. Wes Moore, Sen. Chris Van Hollen and Rep. Steny Hoyer. She campaigned on growing economic opportunity, education and abortion rights and slammed Trone for donating to Republicans around the country, including ones who oppose abortion rights.
“On November 5, 2024, we are going to defeat Larry Hogan, keep Maryland blue, and keep our Senate under Democratic control — spread the word,” Alsobrooks posted on X (formerly known as Twitter) on Tuesday night.
Alsobrooks, who’s in her second term as county executive and served two terms as state’s attorney in Prince George’s, emphasized a career in public service.
She racked up dozens of high-profile Democratic endorsements from across the state. If she wins the nomination and then the general election this fall, Alsobrooks would become the state’s first Black politician elected to the U.S. Senate and only the second
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