Angela Alsobrooks resigned as Prince George’s County Executive Monday morning, as she prepares to be sworn into the U.S. Senate representing Maryland.
After defeating former Republican Gov. Larry Hogan in the race for an open U.S. Senate seat, Alsobrooks will become the first Black woman to serve as a U.S. Senator from Maryland when she heads to Congress on Jan. 3.
“Thank you for your trust and partnership as we worked to build a stronger, united Prince George’s,” Alsobrooks wrote. “Serving the residents of this County has been the honor of my lifetime, and I am deeply proud of all we have accomplished together.”
After Alsobrooks announced the resignation Monday morning, one thing became clear — a special election would need to be held sometime in the near future to replace her.
That was the only thing that was clear, however, as the process ahead is filled with questions about when an election might be held.
“None of us really know what comes next,” said Prince George’s County Council member Wanika Fisher.
Complications: Complying with state law, price tag, multiple vacancies
Under county law, a special primary election must be held in at least 45 days, with the general election happening at least 40 days after that.
The main problem with that is, under state law, there must be a minimum of 59 days between those types of elections to allow for extra time for ballots to be mailed to military members who are living outside of Maryland.
That means the council will need to meet sometime this month to pass an emergency resolution that would adjust the dates to comply with state law and determine when the elections will occur.
“We’ll start negotiating that and figuring that out,” Fisher said. “Maybe we can compromise something around 80 to 90 days, so it would take you about 80 days to stand up a primary, and then another 80 days to have the general.”
Alsobrooks was facing a deadline of Monday at noon. If she waited to resign after the deadline, her replacement would have come from the county council.
Instead, Alsobrooks will be temporarily replaced by Chief Administrative Officer Tara Jackson until the special election.
Special elections are not cheap.
Countywide, they cost more than $1 million each. Special elections in a specific district in the county cost about $500,000.
Adding another layer is the fact that the District 5 seat on the county council will soon be vacated by Jolene Ivey, who is moving to an at-large council seat after winning her election for that position last month.
That means a special primary and general election to replace her will need to be held in District 5, which includes Bladensburg, Cheverly and Landover.
Fisher said, to save money, she would try to position those elections so they happen at the same time as the ones for county executive “so it’ll all be happening simultaneously.”
“It’s just very unique,” said Fisher. “It’s not like this all the time, where you have stacked specials and all of this.”
The council recently debated a series of bills that would change special election dates to permanently bring them into line with state law and would eliminate special primary elections for council seats and the county executive’s seat.
Those bills did not receive enough votes to pass.
Who might replace Alsobrooks?
Three members of the county council told WTOP they learned about Alsobrooks’ decision Monday morning.
Among those running in the special election are Council members Ivey and Calvin Hawkins, as well as the county’s top prosecutor — state’s attorney Aisha Braveboy.
According to WTOP’s news partners at Maryland Matters, 46% of voters polled in Prince George’s County view Braveboy favorably, while 15% viewed her unfavorably.
And Ivey may have a leg up on Hawkins with voters, according to the poll.
Ivey was viewed favorably by 39% of voters and unfavorably by 13%.
Hawkins had a 22% favorability rating, compared to 9% of voters who viewed him unfavorably.
Maryland Matters contributed to this report.
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