Democrat Angela Alsobrooks beats Larry Hogan for US Senate seat in Maryland

Angela Alsobrooks won a U.S. Senate seat on Tuesday to become the first Black candidate to be elected senator in Maryland, as the Democrat prevailed in a blue state against popular Republican former Gov. Larry Hogan.

The race has been widely watched with control of the Senate potentially at stake.

Alsobrooks campaigned heavily on abortion rights in a year that Maryland voters approved a ballot measure to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution. She said she heard on the campaign trail how much abortion rights matter to voters.

“I hear it not just from women, but I’ve heard from a number of men who say that they want the freedom for their daughters and their granddaughters, and that they’re very concerned about the direction we’re heading for people to make reproductive choices,” Alsobrooks said in a September interview with The Associated Press.

In his campaign, Hogan said he would support abortion rights, but Alsobrooks argued he could not be trusted to do so. She cited his veto of legislation to expand access to abortion in Maryland while he was governor and then withheld money for abortion training after the legislature overrode his veto.

Alsobrooks deftly used television ads to emphasize that the race could determine Senate control, putting Maryland in the unusual position of a potential swing state in a year of high political stakes.