Alsobrooks says Trone is ‘trying to buy’ seat

Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks said at a candidates’ forum Saturday that her U.S. Senate election opponent, David Trone, “is trying to buy” the election. Trone responded that his mostly self-financed campaign gives him independence from special-interest contributors.

Trone, 68, who represents Frederick County and Western Maryland in the U.S. House of Representatives, and Alsobrooks, 52, the two-term county executive, are the top Democratic contenders in the race to succeed Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin, whose term ends in January 2025, and is not seeking reelection.

The campaign of Trone, the wealthy co-founder of the Total Wine & More retail chain, is almost entirely self-financed. He reported spending $23.4 million through Dec. 31, and told The Baltimore Sun in January that he might spend an additional $30 million before the May 14 primary.

Alsobrooks has raised $5 million and spent $1.8 million since May, according to her Federal Election Commission report.

“I was certainly not born wealthy,” Trone said at the forum, which included seven Democratic candidates.

It was sponsored by the Montgomery County Women’s Democratic Club and held in the full-to-capacity auditorium of Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring.

“The fact that I became wealthy, I don’t apologize for that,” Trone said. “Many people support the idea of somebody who is willing to put their own capital up.”

Alsobrooks cited records showing Trone has given tens of thousands of dollars to state Republicans across the country.

“He doesn’t accept money, he’s a one man super PAC,” she said. “He is trying to buy an election here.”

Trone previously said the contributions to Republicans were made to officials in states where his national business was pursuing policy changes. At the forum, he said he has given millions of dollar over the years to Democrats, and that his contributions to Republicans were made at the state, rather than federal, level.

Trone and Alsobrooks were seated next to each other in the middle of a stage in the auditoritum, which seated several-hundred people.

The forum was interrupted several times by hecklers supporting various causes, including one repeatedly calling for a Gaza cease-fire and the defunding of Israel. Other times, the candidates’ microphones failed as they responded to questions from the moderator, Jennifer Rubin of The Washington Post.

The other five Democratic candidates have struggled to compete with Trone and Alsobrooks for money and attention in the race.

“Let’s make this a three-person race. We can do better,” said one of them, Brian E. Frydenborg of Montgomery County, a writer, researcher and consultant.

Also participating in the forum were Marcellus Crews of Prince George’s County, a small-business owner in the tech sector; Robert Houton of Montgomery County, who founded a pro-vaccination nonprofit in 2021; Steven Seuferer of Montgomery County, who works in IT for a medical investing company; and business systems analyst Andrew Jaye Wildman of Carroll County.

Former two-term Republican Gov. Larry Hogan entered the race for Cardin’s seat on Feb. 9, the last day to file for the primary.

The closeness of the Senate margin has made “electability” a key issue for Democratic voters: Which candidate has the best chance to beat Hogan?

Democrats hold a 51-49 Senate majority. One Senate Democrat in a red state — Joe Manchin of West Virginia — has announced his retirement, posing a challenge for Democrats, who also must defend a handful of seats in states that Biden narrowly won in 2020.

The last Republican elected to the U.S. Senate from Maryland was Charles Mathias in 1980. Democrats hold a more than 2-1 voter registration advantage in the state.

But Hogan’s eight years as governor and anticipated fundraising ability make him a formidable contender.

On Saturday, Alsobrooks and Trone directed much of their criticism at Hogan, particularly on abortion.

Trone and Alsobrooks are each staunch abortion rights supporters. Trone voted for House legislation in 2022 — it did not pass — to codify abortion rights into federal law. Alsobrooks has pledged to immediately promote similar legislation, if elected to Congress.

Hogan says he personally opposes abortion, but that he never sought to overturn Maryland law protecting the procedure.

“Larry Hogan’s record is clear. He is anti-choice,” Alsobrooks said.

Since they are in accord on abortion and many other issues, Trone and Alsobrooks sought on Saturday to distinguish themselves through their personal histories.

During the campaign, Alsobrooks has emphasized her role as a mom — she has a daughter in college — and lifelong Marylander inspired by her parents and grandparents to pursue a public service career. An attorney, she clerked in the circuit courts of Howard County and Baltimore City and became a Prince George’s County assistant state’s attorney in 1997. She was elected in 2010 to the first of two terms as the county’s state’s attorney and has since won two terms as county executive.

Alsobrooks suggested Saturday that Trone, as a member of the 435-seat House of Representatives, lacks her chief executive experience on crime and other issues.

“He’s never had to keep any community safe,” she said.

Trone recounted the bankruptcy of his family’s Pennsylvania farm, his father’s alcoholism and other struggles before starting his business.

An Emerson College Polling survey on Feb. 15 showed Hogan and Trone tied at 42% in a hypothetical general election matchup as of Feb. 12-13. In a second matchup, Hogan held a 7-point lead over Alsobrooks.

Her campaign predicted last month that her numbers will rise “when voters get to know Angela.” The survey reached 1,000 Maryland registered voters.