Maryland's Senate Seat is a local fight for America's Democratic Experiment. How will local narratives influence voters?
Maryland's Senate Seat is a local fight for America's Democratic Experiment. How will local narratives influence voters?
One of the biggest political races, besides Vice President Kamala and Donald Trump's presidential candidacies, is Prince George’s County, County Executive Angela Alsobrooks vs. former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan fight the Maryland Senate.
If Hogan is elected, he will tip the scales of the Senate. If Alsobrooks wins, she will be the first Black woman elected as a Maryland Senator. This is certainly true nationally. But all politics are local, and locals have a political memory that others don’t. How will local narratives shape their votes?
As I have written before, Hogan has rebranded himself as an independent, though he is still a registered Republican. Hogan’s independent streak seems to have emerged within the era of Donald Trump’s racism, and yet, as governor, he sounded and, to some degree, acted like Trump. This was especially true whenever he talked about Baltimore. It should be noted that Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell encouraged Hogan to run for Senator. He understands that if Hogan is elected, he could tip the Senate's power toward Republicans. McConnell loves power.
Baltimore has one of the most corrupt police forces in the state. He did not speak out against police officers’ lynchings (extra judicial killings) of Black people. He defended police actions. The Fraternal Order of Police backs his senate campaign.
He stopped the redline from being built in Baltimore. For decades, some have argued, that Prince George’s County, deemed the mecca of Black wealth, had not received the kind of investments other counties did while he was governor.
Earlier in the Covid-19 pandemic (people are still dying from Covid-19) Hogan and Alsobrooks were at times at odds with each other. Prince George’s County led the state in Covid-19 deaths. These deaths and their impact have yet to receive the recognition they deserve. Hogan had many plunders during the early days of the pandemic. Several counties banded together to write him a letter saying that the state hadn’t provided them with enough PPE or test kits for residents. Alsobrooks publicly voiced her grievance about the state’s lack of resources for the county. She then worked with Montgomery County to get more resources.
More recently, Time Magazine reported that Hogan had used his position as governor to direct contract work to his businesses.
“Over Hogan’s eight years in office, nearly 40% of the competitive affordable housing awards overseen by the governor went to developers listed as clients on HOGAN’s website,” according to Time Magazine. “Those awards were concentrated among six developers who competed against more than 60 other companies during that time. As one of three members of the Board of Public Works, an administrative body that determines how taxpayer money gets spent, Hogan voted on five occasions to issue additional loans or grants to four of those same developers, according to public records.”
This way of handling business is similar to how Trump used the government to amass wealth.
"Since Donald Trump declared his candidacy for president in late 2015, at least $16.1 million has poured into Trump Organization-managed and branded hotels, golf courses and restaurants from his campaign, Republican organizations, and government agencies,” according to Propublica.
Yet, Hogan continually argues that he’s a maverick and for the everyday Marylander, garnering local Republican and Democrat votes despite his problematic stances on various issues. When faced off against, Ben Jealous, a progressive Democrat, there seemed to be some hope that Jealous could garner enough votes to defeat Hogan. For various reasons, he lost. Hogan is now facing Alsobrooks, a centrist Democrat, who has managed to steal other centrist Democrats away from Hogan.
Alsobrooks at least until recently — she failed to pay taxes on properties held in D.C. — has managed to stay scandal-free. However, her local record among residents is a mixed bag. To speak frankly — no one is or has accused Alsobrooks of being racist.
Alsobrooks is a native-born Prince Georgian. She grew up in Camp Springs, which is in South County. Though she emerges from a working-class community, she has amassed a career that puts her in the county and region among a solid Black middle, government-employed class. To some degree, she sits within the DMV’s Black elite.
Before she was elected to be the first Black woman county state’s attorney, she worked in education and revenue. While campaigning for state’s attorney, the Washington Post endorsed her.
Alsobrooks then ran for county executive. During her campaign, she spoke about reforming the county’s education system, which was under investigation for falsifying grades at the time. She also talked about the classism problem in the county and said education could be the “equalizer.”
“The answer to the growing divide between haves and have-nots is to “equalize by education” and to “make sure that learning is a lifelong process,” the University of Maryland law school graduate said,” according to WAMU.
Also, Brooks made other promises. She promised twice-a-week trash pickup, reforming the county’s board of education, being tough on crime, and creating a seat at the table for everyone.
Though homeowners paid their share of taxes, the county still lacked the kinds of amenities (a robust healthcare ecosystem, better restaurants, an improved education system, better recreation opportunities for youth, etc.) that other wealthier counties enjoyed. The Alsobrooks administration has worked to attract businesses, build robust healthcare infrastructures, and better schools for residents. Alsobrooks followed Rand consultants’ advice to bring more healthcare facilities to the county, her administration brokered a private-public partnership to rebuild schools in the county (some of the state’s oldest schools) and has worked with Hogan and Moore to bring money and economic redevelopment to the county (mostly in North County). Under her administration, the county will be welcoming data centers, which can boost the local economy.
Yet, Alsobrooks, according to some residents, hasn’t been that great of a county executive. Residents in South County continue to feel isolated and ostracized by her administration. As I have traveled throughout South County covering various town hall meetings and talking to residents, they feel like Alsobrooks hasn’t kept her promise about trash pick up. In online forums, residents say there at least appears to be inconsistency. Though her administration has implemented new policies around trash pickup, there seems to be a gap between the policy and the implementation.
Some feel the majority of all new developments are happening in North County. During a county council meeting, South County Council member Edward Burroughs, District 8, complained that the majority of the new school buildings are for North County residents and that only one school, thus far, is being rebuilt in South County. Within this context, Fort Washington community members have gathered together to start an organization, Fort Washington Forward, to attract businesses to South County.
Prince George’s County has a growing Latinx population. Alsobrooks has received sharp criticism from local Latinx leaders, who say she had no one in her administration who represented them. They felt ignored. Additionally, during the early years of the pandemic, they felt forgotten by Alsobrooks. When Alsobrooks ran against David Trone for senate during the primaries, some Latinx state politicians endorsed Trone.
Responding to the criticism, Alsobrooks started a Latino Affairs Office, which collaborates with local Latinx communities to hold events. However, it isn’t clear what this has meant to the Latinx communities.
Alsobrooks’ opportunity to the Senate came when former Maryland Sen. Ben Cardin decided not to run for reelection. Instead, he retired. There was some speculation that Alsobrooks wanted to be the one to fill Cardin’s seat. It was also rumored that she was going to run for governor. That never happened. She endorsed Moore, who has been a champion for Prince George’s County. Based on coverage, Cardin spoke with potential Senate candidates. He decided to endorse Alsobrooks.
It was, what one can consider, somewhat foreshadowing what would later happen between President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. The slight difference is that Biden was forced to step down. Cardin retired.
Alsobrooks and Kamala do have similar backgrounds. Kamala has a legal background and so does Alsobrooks. If both are elected, they would be the first Black women in their positions. Alsobrooks has used these similarities to her advantage. Of late, in local advertisements, she has said that if she is elected to the Senate, she will work with Kamala on reproductive rights. While Hogan has pretended to distance himself from the Republican Party, Alsobrooks has leaned into the Democratic Party establishment and its messaging. Harris and Obama have endorsed her candidacy for Senate.
All politics are local, and the fight for America’s democratic experiment is on the line. What and how we remember politicians’ time in office, their impact or lack thereof, influences who we vote for.