11-06-2024 12:56pm

Alsobrooks wins historic race for Maryland’s Senate seat

Catherine Hollingsworth Editor

Maryland Senate candidate and Prince George's County Executive Angela Alsobrooks addressed the Democratic National Convention. Caley Fox Shannon/Capital News Service

By Jack Bowman
Capital News Service

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Marylanders have elected Angela Alsobrooks to represent them in the U.S. Senate, giving Democrats a critical victory in a race that was one of the closest in the state’s recent history.

The Associated Press called the race less than two hours after the polls closed, with more than half the state’s votes counted and some voters still waiting in line to cast their ballots.

The win is a historic one, as Alsobrooks becomes the third Black woman elected to the Senate and the first from Maryland. Before this election only 57 Black women had ever been elected to Congress.

“Tonight absolutely could not have been possible without you,” Alsobrooks told a crowd gathered at her watch party in College Park. “So to the people of Maryland, thank you so very much.”

Hogan quickly conceded the race and publicly acknowledged the historic nature of Alsobrooks’ win.

“In our nation’s history, only three African-American women have ever served in the United States Senate,” Hogan told a crowd at his party in Annapolis. “Tonight, regardless of who you voted for, we can all take pride in the election of the first black woman to represent Maryland in the United States Senate.”

Hogan went on to call Alsobrooks a “dedicated public servant,” saying that everyone should “wish her much success.”

With the win, Alsobrooks, the current Prince George’s County Executive, changes the face of Maryland’s all-male congressional delegation. Sarah Elfreth, a Democratic candidate in Maryland’s third House district, was also running to join the delegation.

The win for Democrats is the culmination of a Senate race that was much more hotly contested than expected after Hogan, a popular two-term governor from 2014 to 2022, announced his candidacy in February. Hogan was personally recruited to run for the seat, being vacated by Democrat Ben Cardin, by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky.

Throughout her campaign, dubbed the “Defend our Majority Tour,” Alsobrooks emphasized the need to give Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris a majority in the Senate. That messaging became even stronger as Hogan polled well in the early days of the race.

Alsobrooks’ quest resonated with voters. Jackson Lasher, a 23-year-old graduate student at the University of Maryland, said he changed his voter registration from New York to Maryland to help elect Alsobrooks.

“I wanted the Democrats to have the majority this time and she has a really good record in Prince George’s County,” Lasher told Capital News Service on Election Day. “I wanted to give her a shot.”

The desire to maintain a Democratic majority even motivated some voters who had cast their ballots for Hogan in previous gubernatorial elections.

“He’s been the only Republican that I’ve really backed, but I can’t take the chance,” 58-year-old Charlene Mattson told CNS. “We need Alsobrooks in the Senate.”

Abortion was also a critical issue in the race. While both candidates expressed support for abortion access, Alsobrooks repeated throughout the campaign that if the Senate flipped to a Republican majority there would “be no vote” to codify abortion access nationally.

If Republicans control Congress, the presidency and already have a Supreme Court with mostly their picks, “I worry that they might enact a national abortion ban that could harm Marylanders,” said David Duba, 30, a social studies teacher at Bowie High School.

In that scenario, he would expect a “strong backlash” from people who want to protect their freedoms, including abortion access, Duba said outside Bowie High annex Tuesday.

Alsobrooks’ victory was announced at her watch party to a chorus of cheers.

“It is my absolute pleasure,” Charlene Mickens Dukes told the gathered crowd, “to tell you that our county executive, our neighbor, our sister in service, is the United States senator.”

Wes Moore also took the stage, addressing the crowd about the historic victory.

“We just voted overwhelmingly, decisively and lovingly to send our friend Angela Alsobrooks to the United States Senate,” the governor said to a raucous cheer.

Steven Jacobs Jr., Robert Stewart, Marijke Friedman and Mennatalla Ibrahim contributed to this report. Xavier Board reported from Bowie.