Grace Fentress is a junior honors student at the University of Arkansas majoring in Political Science and Communication, with minors in Business and Legal Studies. Originally from Saint Louis, Missouri, Grace has been involved in many campus activities such as the Associate Student Government Judicial Branch and Kappa Kappa Gamma. After graduation, Grace hopes to attend law school.
Maryland has been consistently viewed as a “blue” state for the last four decades. However, with Senator Ben Cardin (D) not running for re-election this year, there are discussions about a potential shift, particularly due to the candidacy of former governor Larry Hogan. This has led some to speculate about a possible “red tint” entering the state. Democratic candidate Angela Alsobrooks also comes from a strong Maryland background as she serves as the Prince George County Executive. Maryland’s blue history runs very deep as the Republicans have not won a U.S. Senate seat from Maryland since 1980. Incumbent Ben Cardin earned the seat in 2006, winning his first election by a margin of 54% to 44%. Six years later he was reelected on 56% of the votes, and in his final election in 2018, he earned 65% of the votes.
This senate race has brought in unusually high numbers of campaign donations, as millions of dollars are being invested on both sides. Alsobrooks has raised over $28 million and still has $2 million cash left to put into her campaign. Hogan on the other hand has raised only $11 million. This race has received more than $84 million in contributions according to the Federal Elections Commission. It is important to note that respectively the candidates have spent more than the incumbent and all his opponents since 2006 combined. Super PAC’s have played a huge role in this race as much of the funding has come from outside of Maryland. Much of the outside funding has been in support of Hogan, where more than $27 million has been raised in support of him. A Hogan PAC known as Better Path Forward, has raised $92,000 over the past three months and has raised $390,000 in total. Alsobrooks is not short for cash though, as she is benefitting from a PAC called Unity First that has raised $448,000 overall.
Several key issues have emerged in the race, including namely abortion and Hogan’s stance on the Republican nominee for President, Donald Trump. Alsobrooks stands for the protection of reproductive health and claims that Hogan will ultimately side with Republicans in the Senate Hogan comes to this race as a two term, well respected, Republican governor, but he openly declined Donald Trump’s endorsement as he claims to not be running for the Republican Party per se but for conservative ideals.. It has also been revealed that in the past two presidential elections, Hogan did not vote for either candidate, exercising the write-in option. Despite Hogan’s efforts to reach across the divide, less known Angela Alsobrooks still leads the polls +10.4 as of October 29th. This has been a somewhat consistent trend throughout the race as she holds a firm democratic stance. If elected, she would be the first African American U.S. Senator for Maryland and one of very few Black women to serve in Congress. She has made her stance on reproductive rights clear with promises to support acts put on the senate floor. Earlier this month she received the endorsement from former president Barack Obama. She has also been endorsed by the Harris campaign.
Prediction: Despite Hogan’s best efforts, Alsobrooks has consistently held the advantage in the polls throughout the entire race. Maryland runs deep blue and that has helped close the gaps. Although Hogan has been well known and liked as governor of the state; Alsobrooks commitment to keeping Maryland Democrat may be the advantage that secures her the seat.