Republican Larry Hogan will face Democrat Angela Alsobrooks in Maryland’s US Senate race
Republican former Gov. Larry Hogan and Democratic county executive Angela Alsobrooks emerged victorious Tuesday in Maryland’s primary races for the state’s open US Senate seat.
Hogan, who served two terms as Maryland’s governor from 2015 to 2023, easily topped the crowded GOP field with more than 60% of the vote despite his late entry into the race.
Alsobrooks, the executive of Prince George’s County, fended off a fierce campaign mounted by deep-pocketed Rep. David Trone (D-Md.), the founder of alcohol retailer Total Wine, who poured more than $50 million of his own money into the race.
Alsobrooks received 53.4% of the vote to Trone’s 42.6% despite the congressman’s spending blitz.
The race for the Senate seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) is expected to be competitive despite Maryland’s blue leanings.
Hogan, a moderate and critic of former President Donald Trump, was only the second GOP governor ever to win re-election in Maryland, where more Democrats are registered to vote than Republicans by a 2-1 margin.
Hogan signaled on the campaign trail that he would continue with his centrist approach to politics if elected senator.
Top Senate Republicans, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), have been encouraging Hogan to seek higher office for years, but the former governor had rebuffed recruitment efforts until February, when he just barely made the Senate GOP race filing deadline.
Hogan, 67, was diagnosed with stage 3 non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in June 2015, during his first year in the Governor’s Mansion, but continued to work as he received treatment.
He has been in remission since November 2015.
History is on Alsobrooks’ side to take the Senate seat, however.
Maryland hasn’t had a Republican senator in 37 years, and President Biden won the state by a whopping 33 percentage points in 2020.
Democrats also control both chambers of the state legislature, the governor’s mansion and all but one member of the Old Line State’s congressional delegation is a Democrat.
“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 wrote on X after her victory.
If elected, Alsobrooks would be Maryland’s first black female senator and only the third Black woman elected to the upper chamber.
Democrats currently hold a slim 51-49 majority in the Senate, but have to defend 23 seats this cycle — Republicans have to protect just 11.