Maryland's Democratic primary for Senate looks like a nailbiter
Maryland open-seat Senate race has produced an expensive and increasingly negative Democratic primary between Prince George's County Executive Angela Alsobooks and Rep. David Trone. The two contenders are a study in contrasts. Trone, who is white, made millions as co-founder of Total Wine & More, which has enabled him to spend nearly $62 million out of his pocket in his Senate bid, as of May 6. Alsobrooks, who is Black, leads the most populous majority-Black county in the country, which sits to the east of the nation's capital. Her campaign had raised $7.8 million as of April 24 with no self-funding.
But despite this shortfall, Alsobrooks has nearly caught up to Trone in the polls: She trails him just 41 percent to 38 percent in 538's average, making for a highly uncertain contest tonight.
![PHOTO: A chart showing Rep. David Trone at 40.7 percent and Prince George's County Executive Angela Alsobrooks at 38.3 percent.](https://i.abcnewsfe.com/a/131edc2b-d5af-45fd-8ace-8347070d016d/mdsenDprimaryavgfinal-538-cb-240514_1715695332474_hpEmbed_5x4.jpg)
Trone has argued that he's a better bet to win the general election than Alsobrooks against former Gov. Larry Hogan, the likely GOP nominee, while she has played up her strong backing from most of Maryland's high-profile Democrats — including the state's other senator, Chris Van Hollen — and her support for abortion rights.
But race has been an unavoidable subject in this contest, too. Trone has emphasized his support from Black officeholders, including an ad in which one official said the Senate is "not a place for training wheels." That line drew a rebuke from a group of Black women for being "disparaging and dismissive" and tinged with "misogyny and racism." Trone also raised ire in March when he used a racial slur during a hearing, saying later that he meant to say "bugaboo." Alsobrooks, who'd be Maryland's first Black senator, has highlighted how her background — unlike Trone's — differs from the mostly white and male makeup of the Senate. More broadly, the Democratic primary electorate will be almost evenly divided between white and Black voters, and Maryland's 2006 and 2016 Democratic primaries for open Senate seats each split voters along racial lines to a notable extent.
—Geoffrey Skelley, 538
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