Maryland Could be Key to Senate Control
By Joe Guzzardi
Maryland’s Prince George County Executive Angela Alsobrooks is a leading candidate in the Democratic U.S. Senate primary. Republicans hoping to pick up the open seat in deep blue Maryland have the best chance in four decades with former Gov. Larry Hogan. Incumbent Democrat Ben Cardin announced last year that he would not seek another term. Cardin served in Congress for 36 years, at first in the US. House of Representatives from 1987-2006 and then, since 2007 in the Senate. Alsobrooks is one of ten announced Democrats in the May 14 primary race, but her most probable rival is U.S. Rep. David Trone.
Now that May is quickly approaching, Trone is hoping that his extreme far-left platform will overcome lost ground which some attribute to a perceived racial slur. During a recent House Budget Committee meeting, Trone used the word “jigaboo” in reference to a tax issue. In his apology, Trone said that he meant to say “bugaboo.” Alsobrooks immediately picked up several endorsements from House Congressional Black Caucus members. Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat who was an impeachment manager against President Donald Trump, also endorsed Alsobrooks after pledging that he would stay out of the primary race.
Under the national radar when compared to California, Pennsylvania and Ohio, over $29 million has already been spent in the Maryland race which, according to AdImpact Politics, makes it the third most expensive primary in the country, with Trone, a wealthy businessman, accounting for 97% of that spending. Trone is among Congress’ wealthiest legislators with a net worth estimated at $33 million created through the ownership of 265 stores across 28 states that specialize in wine, beer, and spirits, Total Wine & More.
Trone’s platform includes radical immigration overhauls that go farther than either open borders President Joe Biden or Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas would dare propose. Speaking at a candidate forum, Trone urged citizenship and voting rights for “all 12 million folks” currently residing in the U.S. that would include deferred action for childhood arrivals and temporary protected status recipients. Since the total DACA and TPS population is only about three million; the assumption therefore is that Trone would give voting rights to already present illegal aliens and the constantly arriving foreign nationals, possibly 1.5 to 2 million more by November.
Further demonstrating how out of touch with his constituents he is on voters’ major concern—immigration—Trone voted against the bipartisan Laken Riley Act, a bill named to honor the nursing student that Venezuelan illegal alien Jose Antonio Ibarra murdered on the University of Georgia campus. The bill that Trone voted against would require U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to arrest illegal immigrants who commit theft, burglary, larceny or shoplifting offenses and mandate that, in the name of public safety, such criminals be detained until they are removed. Ibarra had been arrested in New York last year for child endangerment, and in Georgia for misdemeanor shoplifting. Ibarra’s New York and Georgia crimes would have mandated his deportation, and saved Riley’s life.
Alsobrooks immigration views are similar to Trone’s. If elected to the Senate, Alsobrooks promises to grant citizenship to illegal immigrants, DACAs, and TPS recipients. As Prince George’s County’s 2013 State’s Attorney, Alsobrooks advocated for legislation allowing illegal aliens to obtain driver’s licenses.
Whether Alsobrooks or Trone secures the nomination, they’ll have to beat popular twice-elected, former governor Larry Hogan who opposes Maryland’s sanctuary state status and whose immigration views are in line with the nation’s enforcement sentiment than with Biden’s open border policies. In Maryland, residents are struggling to cope with violent MS-13 gang crime. During his 2014 campaign, Hogan said he favored returning illegal aliens to their home countries. And in 2021, he vetoed a bill in the General Assembly that would require counties that have contracts with ICE to end those contracts by October 1, 2022. However, during a special session, the General Assembly overrode his veto.
In the latest polling, Hogan leads Alsobrooks by +14, and Trone, +12. When Hogan left office, he had a favorability rating in the mid-70s, which placed him as the nation’s third most popular governor. Still, Hogan has his work cut out for him. Biden carried Maryland in 2020 by more than 30 points, and, in 1980, Charles Mathias was the last Republican U.S. Senator Maryland elected. Maryland is up for grabs, and Hogan has greater stature among voters than either of his likely Democratic challengers.
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Joe Guzzardi is a Project for Immigration Reform analyst who has written about immigration for more than 30 years. Contact him at jguzzardi@ifspp.org
