Polls are now closed in Maryland, and votes are being counted in the closely watched Democratic and Republican primaries for the U.S. Senate.
Visit WTOP’s Election 2024 page for comprehensive coverage.
Polls are now closed in Maryland, and votes are being counted in the closely watched Democratic and Republican primaries for the U.S. Senate.
On the Republican side, the contest turned out to be a political coronation for former two-term Gov. Larry Hogan. The Associated Press called the race for the former two-term governor just about 40 minutes after polls closed.
Hogan had jolted the race when he threw his hat in the ring at the last minute earlier this year. He is facing six other contenders for the GOP nomination.
On the Democratic side, a crowded slate of candidates had largely narrowed to a two-person race between Rep. David Trone and Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks — a bitterly fought contest that took on an increasingly negative tone in the final days of the campaign, even being called “2024’s most brutal Senate primary” in one recent report.
About a half-hour after polls closed, with only a fraction of votes counted,
Democratic voters Tuesday were deciding which competitor will face Hogan in the general election in the fall.
Registered Democrats outnumber Republicans in the state 2-to-1, and Maryland hasn’t sent a Republican senator to Washington in more than 40 years. However, earlier in the campaign, Hogan was leading both Trone and Alsobrooks.
The Cook Political Report still lists the open Senate seat as a “likely” Democratic win in the fall.
Heading into the final days, political ads from both leading Democratic candidates have saturated the TV and radio airwaves.
The co-owner of Total Wine & More, Trone has poured some $60 million of his own money into his Senate bid — making it the most expensive Senate primary in the state’s history — and he had criticized Alsobrooks for taking contributions from oil companies and other special interests.
Trone has pointed to his record of bipartisanship, calling himself a “servant of the people,” not a “career politician,” and pointing to his record of securing federal funding for Maryland in the House and his ability to win elections in purple territory.
Trone is in his third term representing Maryland’s 6th District, which includes part of Montgomery County and all of Frederick, Allegany and Garrett counties. Among Democrats, he was ranked the fourth most bipartisan member of Congress last year.
“I take the time to get to know the other side of the aisle. … We need to sit down with the other side and find common ground,” Trone told WTOP in an interview last week, pointing to education, criminal justice, and mental health and addiction where lawmakers could work on bipartisan solutions.
For her part, Alsobrooks has made preserving abortion rights a key part of her campaign and has emphasized her experience as a two-term county executive securing the FBI headquarters in Greenbelt, Maryland, and other economic development projects as evidence.
“I know not only what to vote for, but I know how to implement,” Alsobrooks said in an interview with WTOP last week.
Alsobrooks, who would be the first Black woman elected to the Senate from Maryland — and only the third in the U.S. — if she were to win in the fall, has been endorsed by some of the top Democratic officeholders in Maryland. That includes Gov. Wes Moore and heavyweight representatives Steny Hoyer and Jamie Raskin.
Trone, meanwhile, has been endorsed by Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown, as well as House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and other Democratic House leaders.
The campaign has bitterly divided Democrats — especially in Prince George’s County where a battle over endorsements has turned bitter and personal.
Trone, who has been endorsed by some local officeholders in Prince George’s County, such as State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy, came under criticism for suggesting in an interview with NBC Washington that only “low-level” officials in Alsobrooks’ home county were supporting her.
Throughout most of the campaign, polls had given Trone the edge over Alsobrooks. However, more recently, there were signs the race was tightening, with Alsobrooks taking a slim lead over Trone in one poll.
There are eight other Democrats on the ballot. They are: Michael W. Cobb Sr., Marcellus Crews, Brian E. Frydenborg, Scottie J. Griffin, Robert K. Houton, Joseph Perez, Steven Henry Seuferer and Andrew Jaye Wildman.
Hogan, who served two terms as governor and left the governor’s mansion with sky-high popularity ratings, has promised to take on “dysfunction in Washington” and partisan gridlock, talking up his bipartisan bona fides on the campaign trail.
However, his reputation as one of the most vocal Republican critics of former President Donald Trump could hurt him in a GOP primary.
Hogan faces six other Republican candidates. They are Moe H. Barakat, Chris Chaffee, Robin Ficker, Lorie R. Friend, John A. Myrick and Laban Y. Seyoum.
Maryland hasn’t elected a Republican senator since 1980.
