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ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — For years in deep-blue Maryland, U.S. Senate races often have been blowouts for solid Democratic incumbents against little-known and underfunded Republicans, without much chance of an upset or control of the chamber potentially at stake.
That is not the case with the race this year for an open U.S. Senate seat in Maryland.
Larry Hogan, a popular Republican who won two terms as governor, is the most competitive candidate for the GOP in years in the race to replace retiring Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin. Still, he is facing an uphill battle against Democrat Angela Alsobrooks, the county executive of Prince George’s County, who could make history as the state’s first Black U.S. senator in a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans 2-1.
The stakes are unusually high for a Maryland race that includes a Republican who won significant Democratic support in his 2014 and 2018 gubernatorial victories. Hogan is only the second Republican in Maryland history to be reelected governor.
Democrats currently hold a 51-49 Senate advantage, including independent senators who caucus with Democrats. And Democrats have to defend 23 seats out of the 33 Senate seats on the ballot around the country this November.
Hogan won the governorship in an upset by running on fiscal concerns and campaigning against tax increases, and he boosted his popularity in a blue state partly by becoming one of former President Donald Trump’s fiercest critics in the GOP. Hogan did not vote for Trump in 2016 or 2020, choosing write-in candidates instead, specifically his father, a former Maryland congressman in 2016, and former president Ronald Reagan in 2020. This year, Hogan said he left his vote for president blank.
He has campaigned for Senate by underscoring his willingness to put country over party, to work in a bipartisan manner and to provide an independent voice in partisan Washington.
“The only way we’re going to make a difference is if we can find strong, independent leaders who are willing to stand up to both parties and try to bring about common-sense bipartisan solutions, which is exactly what I delivered for eight years as governor,” Hogan said during a debate in October on Maryland Public Television.
Dale Schulz, a Republican who voted for Hogan on Tuesday, said he likes the former governor’s independence.
“I thought he did a really good job as governor, and I like the idea that I think he’ll be independent and try to work both sides, whereas I think the lady, Alsobrooks, I think she would have just been a rubber stamp for the Democrats,” Schulz, a 79-year-old Annapolis resident, said.
Voters for Alsobrooks frequently mentioned the significance of fending off a challenge by the popular Republican in order to keep the seat blue with the control of the Senate potentially at stake.
“I don’t want to see the Senate go Republican,” said Donald Huber, a 72-year-old Democrat voting in Annapolis on Tuesday. “Simple as that. I don’t want to see it turn.”
Alsobrooks has pointed to Hogan’s record as governor, particularly some high-profile vetoes of priority legislation approved by the Maryland General Assembly, which is controlled by Democrats. She also has highlighted his recruitment to run for Senate by Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell, a longtime Republican Senate leader, in hopes of winning back the chamber.
“The Republican Party has declared war on women’s reproductive freedoms,” Alsobrooks said in the debate. “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.”
Abortion has been a major issue in a campaign taking place at the same time that voters in Maryland and eight other states will be considering a constitutional amendment to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution, after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade in 2022.
Alsobrooks has prioritized abortion rights in her campaign, saying one of her first actions as a senator would be to sponsor legislation to codify Roe into federal law. Hogan also says he would co-sponsor such legislation, but Alsobrooks is quick to point to a Hogan veto when he was governor of a bill in Maryland to expand abortion access in 2022.
“The fact of the matter is when the former governor had an opportunity to stand up for the women of Maryland, he didn’t,” Alsobrooks said. “He vetoed abortion care legislation. He double downed and refused to release the funding to train abortion care providers. This was just two years ago.”
The measure ended a restriction that only physicians can provide abortions in the state. The legislature, which is controlled by Democrats, overrode the veto, and the law enables nurse practitioners, nurse midwives and physician assistants to provide care. Hogan says Alsobrooks has mischaracterized his position. He says he vetoed the bill out of concerns for women’s health, because the measure allowed health care providers who aren’t doctors to perform abortions.
While a Republican has not won a Senate race in Maryland in more than 40 years, Hogan has wide name recognition. In the last two U.S. Senate races in Maryland, the Democratic candidate won by more than 30 percentage points against candidates who were not well known.
But Hogan supporters point to Hogan’s record during his eight years as governor, and many say they liked what they saw.
“I feel like he served us well in the past, and I feel like he’s really willing to work both sides of the aisle, which is important, so I hope he wins,” said Jennifer Jones, a 56-year-old Republican who lives on Kent Island by the Chesapeake Bay, after casting her ballot for Hogan during early voting.
Alsobrooks supporters noted she would bring greater diversity to the Senate, and they said she is better positioned to address problems facing the state and the nation.
“Angela is really down-to-earth, and she has real solutions, real answers, to the real problems, and I feel Hogan does not have that,” said Zack Buster, a 22-year-old Democrat from Glen Burnie, who voted for Alsobrooks during the early voting period.
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