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Friends,
I am thrilled to announce that The Washington Post has endorsed my friend Angela Alsobrooks in Maryland’s Democratic Senate primary race.
I have long known that Angela is a principled, pragmatic leader who has the personal and professional experience needed to deliver for Marylanders. I am glad to see that the Washington Post, along with many other dedicated Maryland leaders [[link removed]] , agree that Angela is the best choice as our next U.S. Senator.
I hope you'll join me in sending a leader who best represents Maryland values to the U.S. Senate.
Join #TeamAlsobrooks [[link removed]]
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In their May 14 primary election, Maryland Democrats face a dilemma, but at least it’s the good kind: how to choose between two well-qualified candidates seeking the nomination to run for U.S. senator against the likely Republican contender, former governor Larry Hogan. Similar in policy and ideology, either Prince George’s County Executive Angela D. Alsobrooks or Rep. David Trone, who has represented Maryland’s 6th Congressional District since 2019, could do the job, which is currently held by retiring incumbent Ben Cardin (D). On balance, though, Ms. Alsobrooks is the better pick.
The first Black woman ever to serve as Prince George’s county executive, Ms. Alsobrooks, 53, possesses a down-to-earth personal perspective and ample seasoning as a public official. She has been a fiscally responsible steward through the pandemic and a champion of economic development in areas historically left behind. She helped make the case for moving the FBI headquarters to Greenbelt. She worked out a deal with Mr. Hogan when he was governor for up to $400 million in state bonds to ensure redevelopment along Prince George’s five-mile Blue Line Corridor even if the Washington Commanders leave their stadium. She embraced innovative public-private partnerships to construct 10 new schools.
Ms. Alsobrooks deserves credit for her leadership on public safety. She resisted pressure [[link removed]] from progressives to pull police officers out of schools during the tumultuous summer of 2020 — in contrast to D.C., Alexandria and Montgomery County, which came to regret their rash cuts to school resource officer programs. In 2022, Ms. Alsobrooks began enforcing a curfew [[link removed]] for kids under 17 when she learned that most armed carjackings were being committed by teens between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. She clashed with her successor [[link removed]] as state’s attorney, who accused her of grandstanding, but Ms. Alsobrooks stuck to her position and she was right.
At the same time, Ms. Alsobrooks knows what it means to battle systemic injustice and to struggle economically. Her mother’s family came to Maryland from South Carolina after a White sheriff’s deputy fatally shot her unarmed great-grandfather in 1956. Ms. Alsobrooks’s parents were working class; her father recently went back to work part-time to help pay bills after her mother developed dementia.
Ms. Alsobrooks graduated from Duke University and the University of Maryland School of Law. Joining the Prince George’s County state’s attorney’s office in 1997, she became the first prosecutor assigned full-time to domestic violence cases. After leading the county’s revenue authority for six years, she won election in 2010 as state’s attorney. During her eight years as the county’s chief law enforcement officer, she built successful diversion programs for nonviolent drug offenders.
Ms. Alsobrooks would bring valuable diversity to the Senate. Ten men and no women currently represent Maryland in Congress. In 1992, the delegation had four women. She would be the first Black woman elected statewide in Maryland and only the third Black woman ever elected to the Senate. (Nearly one-third of Maryland’s population is Black or African American.)
Our conversation with Ms. Alsobrooks convinced us she has mastered local and state issues — but that she’ll face a learning curve about federal issues unrelated to Maryland and about foreign policy. Her approach to issues gives us confidence she’ll ascend that curve rapidly. Ms. Alsobrooks doesn’t take knee-jerk stands. She’s not full of bluster. She studies carefully and talks to all sides before making decisions. Her general philosophy is solidly internationalist, including support for funding Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.
The record of Mr. Trone, 68, is a creditable one, focused on relatively noncontroversial bipartisan bills addressing addiction, mental health, criminal justice reform and medical research. From modest beginnings, he made a large fortune as co-founder of the retail alcoholic beverage chain Total Wine & More, money he deployed first as a major donor to Democratic causes and then as a candidate for office in his own right. Having spent nearly $42 million through March 30, Mr. Trone ranks as one of the most prolific self-funding primary candidates in U.S. Senate history. This has so far enabled him to bombard the airwaves and drown out Ms. Alsobrooks, though he recently stepped on his own message by uttering a racial slur, a mistake he said was unintentional and for which he promptly apologized.
As that glitch showed, a lot can happen in the waning days of a campaign. We hope what happens is that more Maryland Democrats take a fresh look at Ms. Alsobrooks, and decide to support this pragmatic leader in the prime of her career. She has the potential to serve ably in the Senate for the next six years, or even beyond.
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