TOWSON, Md. (DC News Now) — The race for U.S. Senate in Maryland is in the national spotlight, with Democrat Angela Alsobrooks and Republican Larry Hogan in the running.
Votes in an election that could tilt the balance of power on Capitol Hill will be counted in just over a month.
To start the week, Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks pulled the endorsement of the International Union of Bricklayers & Allied Craftworkers. Union president Tim Driscoll said his workers “know just how much is at stake in this election,” a point Alsobrooks has driven home to voters.
“Marylanders are very savvy,” Alsobrooks maintained. “They understand this race is about the 51st vote and battle for control of the Senate. It’s bigger than Larry Hogan. It’s about our families. It’s about our future.”
Republican nominee Larry Hogan, having served two terms as governor in a state where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by a two-to-one margin, said the future isn’t “just about red verses blue but we’re really just trying to clean up the mess in Washington.”
Alsobrooks brought in a heavy hitter over the weekend to rally Democrats in Towson.
“This race is key to our country’s future,” U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D – MN) told Alsobrooks supporters in Baltimore County. “I want to make sure I have a colleague that’s very firm when it comes to codifying Roe v. Wade into law. That’s Angela.
Hogan told The New York Times that he backs legislation for abortion rights in federal law and he plans to vote for a measure on the state’s ballot that would enshrine abortion rights in the State Constitution.
As for party control in Washington, Hogan said “we’re the bluest state in America but I think I can be the key voice in the Senate to try to get people to work together in a bipartisan way.”
Perhaps the biggest challenge for the Hogan campaign is that some voters may feel there is just too much at stake for the Senate to fall into Republican hands.
