Maryland, West Virginia and Nebraska primaries 2024: Alsobrooks beats Trone

In Maryland's 6th District, Democrat April McClain Delaney looks to be in a strong position in her primary. With just over a quarter of the expected vote reporting, she leads state Del. Joe Vogel 40 to 26 percent. Her husband, John Delaney, held this seat from 2012 to 2018. On the GOP side, former state Del. Neil Parrott is cruising to a likely third consecutive GOP nomination with 50 percent of the vote, outpacing 2022 gubernatorial nominee Dan Cox, with 55 percent of the expected vote reporting.

—Jacob Rubashkin, Inside Elections

Echoing what everyone else has said about Alsobrooks, I also would question the utility of being seen as "electable" in the first place. Plenty have written over the years about how the term can carry with it racial or gender-based undertones — the electability conversation loomed large leading up to the 2020 election, when a number of women were vying to be the Democratic nominee. But nationwide considerations about electability are one thing; I'm doubtful it'll matter at all in deep-blue Maryland.

—Irena Li, 538

I don't think there would be much of a difference between Trone and Alsobrooks when it comes to their chances of winning the 2024 general election against Hogan. Yes, Trone performed somewhat better than Alsobrooks did in some early general election polls against Hogan. However, Alsobrooks wasn't as well-known as Hogan or Trone early on, given that Hogan is a popular former governor and Trone had been running ads since last May. Trone tried to use those polls to make the case that he was more "electable," but it's looking increasingly likely that his argument didn't work.

All in all, my guess is if you simulated this election 10,000 times with Alsobrooks and 10,000 times with Trone, the probability of a Democratic victory would be similarly high in either. That's not to say Hogan can't claim victory in November, but we're talking about deep-blue Maryland — it's going to be very hard for him to actually win.

—Geoffrey Skelley, 538

Given the history of former governors running for Senate in states that generally vote for the opposite party, I'm not sure it will matter much if Trone or Alsobrooks make the ballot. Consider Phil Bredesen in 2018, a popular former Democratic governor in Tennessee who lost an open seat in the state to Marsha Blackburn by around 11 points, even in a blue wave year. Or Evan Bayh, who sought a return to the Senate in Indiana in 2016, only to lose by 10 points to Todd Young. The list continues ... Ted Strickland in Ohio in 2016, Linda Lingle in Hawaii in 2012 ... I just don't think that a former governor, even a popular one, can really overcome the partisanship of a state when it comes to the Senate.

—Mary Radcliffe, 538