On Tuesday night, a little less than two hours after polls closed in Maryland, Prince George's County Executive Angela Alsobrooks pulled off a win against Rep. David Trone of Maryland's 6th Congressional District in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate. Her primary win is something of a stunner, as Trone had previously been leading in the polls, though Alsobrooks enjoyed a slight lead as the primary loomed closer. Former Gov. Larry Hogan was declared the winner of the Republican primary over an hour before.
When the polls closed, the race did look to be close. Trone actually led Alsobrooks when the first votes came in. With an estimated 59 percent reporting, Alsobrooks enjoys 53.4 percent to Trone's 42.6 percent.
The race was getting particularly ugly and heated in the weeks and days leading up to Tuesday's primary. "Dems’ ugliest Senate primary ends with a bad grand prize: Facing Larry Hogan," read a headline from POLITICO. "Maryland’s volatile Senate primary comes to a head," read another from The Hill.
As the POLITICO piece mentioned about Trone:
Trone belittled Alsobrooks’ experience and endorsements from Prince George’s County, attacked her “special interest” fundraising and briefly ran an ad as part of his $60 million campaign that implies she’d need “training wheels” as senator. Alsobrooks sniffed at Trone’s “temperament” after he tore into a TV reporter and whacked him for donating to “radical Republicans” who are anti-abortion rights.
Plus, Alsobrooks’ allies have repeatedly brought up Trone using a racial slur demeaning to Black people during a congressional hearing in March, which he said was a mistake.
While forecasters regard the race still as "Likely Democratic," Hogan as the Republican nominee will actually make this a race to watch. He had the distinction of being elected as governor, twice, in one of the country's most Democratic states. Even if he doesn't emerge victorious, Democrats will still be forced to spend money in a race where they normally wouldn't dream of having to do so. It's also significant that the "Likely Democratic" rating isn't the one most in favor for Democrats, which would be "Solid" or "Safe."
If Alsobrooks emerges victorious in November, Maryland will get their first black female senator. There's a joke that Sen. Laphonza Butler (D-CA), whom Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) selected in October to replace the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) is Maryland's third senator, considering that's where her social media account said she was living when she was named.