by Declan Rooney ‘25

Maryland’s Senate seat is up for grabs this November after Senator Ben Cardin (D) retired after 50 years of service. Maryland is a staunchly democratic state that President Joe Biden won by 33 points in 2020. Despite this, the race to replace Cardin between Angela Alsobrooks (D) and former Governor Larry Hogan (R) remains exceedingly close. A Hogan victory will have massive, nationwide consequences, as it could hand Republicans a critical lead in the Senate. In late September, polling from The Washington Post showed Alsobrooks leading Hogan 51 percent to 40 percent among likely voters, but Hogan is competitive among the state’s Independent voters and has relatively strong favorability with a decent percentage of Democratic voters.

Hogan served as Governor for eight years and was popular despite being a Republican in a staunchly democratic state. Hogan’s popularity among Democrats can be explained by his more centrist positions. Unlike many of his fellow Republicans, Hogan no longer endorses Trump since the January 6 Insurrection. Hogan is more liberal on a number of key issues, such as instituting a comparatively harsh Covid lockdown in 2020 and vowing to be a “pro-abortion Senator.” Hogan’s optics are also starkly different from most Republicans, being seen smiling and taking pictures with parade-goers at a LGBTQ+ Pride Parade this June. Despite his more moderate views, Hogan still supports many conservative economic policies.

Alsobrooks is the current Prince George’s County Executive and has occupied that position for six years. She, like Vice President Kamala Harris, served as a former prosecutor, serving eight years as Prince George’s State Attorney, during which time she oversaw a 50-percent decline in crime rates. Alsobrooks is a standard Democrat when it comes to her views, and she will join her party’s block of votes in Congress, making her more favorable to voters who want the Senate to remain in Democratic control.
Hogan’s stance as a moderate has kept the race as close as it is. Even though he still has a long way to go if he wants to pull off the upset, many media reports state that they can’t yet rule out Hogan becoming a Republican senator from the “blue state” of Maryland.