Early voting in Maryland’s closely watched primary starts Thursday.
The state’s board of elections reported that more than 600,000 voters have requested mail-in ballots for the May 14 primary with the expectation that this presidential primary election could be the highest-counted mail-in ballots in the state’s history aside from 2020. There are a number of races that voters are watching, including those for congressional and Senate seats in Maryland.
Josh Kurtz, founding editor of Maryland Matters, joined WTOP’s Shawn Anderson and Anne Kramer live to discuss the impact of Maryland’s primary elections.
Listen to the full interview or read the transcript.
Shawn Anderson: So we have this Democratic race to fill the U.S. Senate seat vacated by the retiring Ben Cardin. It’s getting a lot of attention. We have Congressman David Trone against Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks. How much of this Democratic matchup will be about the huge wallet that David Trone has against Angela Alsobrooks, who seems to have the support of every establishment Democrat in the state?
Josh Kurtz: Yeah, you framed the race really well, Sean. But the fact is Congressman Trone has spent somewhere between $45 and $60 million of his own money on this race. And there’s just no way that doesn’t become a factor. You know, it’s boosted his name recognition around the state, he’s been able to kind of target his pitches to key segments of the Democratic electorate. County Executive Alsobrooks is getting more known as time goes on. And as you mentioned, she has the establishment support. But we don’t really know who they’re reaching and how folks are going to turn out. But, you know, it’s a fascinating question, and the race appears to be close.
Anne Kramer: Josh, what’s going on with the endorsements? As Sean mentioned, it seems like most of the Democrats in the state are behind Alsobrooks. Do they just not like David Trone? What’s happening there? What are you hearing?
Josh Kurtz: That’s a conversation we can have over a period of hours. It’s kind of like school. There’s an in-crowd, and there are a lot of folks who are, you know, more familiar with Alsobrooks because she’s been around longer. You don’t necessarily think of a multimillionaire as being an insurgent candidate. But in some ways, that’s what David Trone has become. I think toiling in the vineyards of Maryland politics, more people, at least among elected officials have gotten to know Angela Alsobrooks this time around. Notably, Trone does have some supporters in Alsorooks’ home turf in Prince George’s County and he’s been trying to make the most of that. They’ve been appearing in ads for him and doing some outreach for him. So it’s a really interesting question.
Shawn Anderson: Let’s switch to the people running for Congressman Trone’s open seat in the 6th District. There are more than 20 names from both parties running for this seat. Sort this out for us, who appear to be the front runners there?
Josh Kurtz: Yeah, on the Democratic side, I think it’s safe to say that April McClain Delaney, who is a former U.S. Commerce Department official, and whose husband, John Delaney, once held the seat, is probably the nominal front-runner in the Democratic primary.
She’s being challenged by a very aggressive young state delegate, Joe Vogel. I think logic would say Delaney is ahead. But Vogel has a lot of support from unions and some activist groups. And I think it’s really going to come down to a contest between the two of them.
On the Republican side: Neil Parrott, who was the two time Republican nominee against Trone, is in the race again. He’s one of the leading candidates. Dan Cox, who was Republican nominee for governor two years ago, is one of the leading candidates. There may be one or two others who can kind of push themselves to the front of the line, but I don’t think it’s easy. I don’t think we know at this point, how either of those races are really going to turn out.
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