Alsobrooks visits Pine Street Market in Cambridge

CAMBRIDGE — During a visit to the Pine Street Community Market July 17, Angela Alsobrooks, the Democratic candidate for Maryland’s open U.S. Senate seat, said Maryland’s Senate race is about the 51st vote.

“We now know that Maryland is really pivotal in keeping the majority,” the Prince George’s County executive said about Democrats maintaining control of the 100-member U.S. Senate.

Alsobrooks said the race is not about former Republican Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, whom she is running against in the November general election to fill retiring Sen. Ben Cardin’s (D-Md.) seat.

As Democrats fight to maintain their slim Senate majority, Hogan’s popularity in Maryland has raised GOP hopes of winning what has long been considered a solidly blue seat. This has made Maryland’s Senate race one of unexpected national significance.

“I like Larry Hogan,” she said. “I worked with him as county executive when he was governor.”

But Alsobrooks said the race “is so much bigger than Larry Hogan. It is about the 51st vote, and we know what the 51st vote really controls in our country.”

Alsobrooks said the political party in power in the Senate controls the agenda, and there are two “very different views” on what that agenda should be. She said the Senate majority vote will determine who is on the Supreme Court.

During her speech, Alsobrooks mentioned a variety of issues. She talked about the importance of protecting reproductive rights, making sure there is a fair tax structure in place and preserving Social Security.

According to a June poll from Public Policy Polling , Alsobrooks, who won the Democratic primary in May, was found to be leading her opponent in the race by 11%. The poll — which surveyed 635 Maryland voters on June 19 and June 20 and had a 3.9% margin of error — showed Alsobrooks leading with 45% of the vote compared to Hogan’s 34%.

According to the Federal Election Commission, Alsobrooks’ campaign has raised $12.47 million and spent $8.91 million between May 1, 2023, and June 30. Hogan’s campaign has raised $7 million and spent $4.34 million between Jan. 1 and June 30.

Pine Street Community Market and the Dorchester County Democratic Party hosted Alsobrooks at 711 Pine St. in Cambridge.

Eddie Beasley, who owns the market, said he would like to see Alsobrooks get elected because she would be Maryland’s first Black U.S. senator.

“Everybody needs to be represented,” he said.

Doris Mason, a retired social worker for the state, said some of the important issues to her are Social Security, support for families and children, and housing, which she said is a top priority in Dorchester County.

Alsobrooks — who also delivered remarks at the United Association Mid Atlantic Pipe Trades annual summer convention in Ocean City and attended a clothing donation drive at the Worcester County Library-Ocean Pines Branch in Berlin on July 17 — said in an interview with The Star Democrat that she has been to the Eastern Shore “a number of times.”

Hogan also has been to the Eastern Shore multiple times since announcing his candidacy. In June, Hogan visited the Simmons Center Market in Cambridge, where he received endorsements from Dorchester County Councilman Ricky Travers and County Council Vice President Mike Detmer.

On Wednesday, Alsobrooks said her trips to the Shore won’t stop if she is elected senator.

“I’ve walked this community,” she said about Cambridge. “We’ve been here a number of times, and I will continue to come here as a senator.”

During her speech in the market, Alsobrooks talked about how her family has shaped who she is and what she fights for. She talked about her grandmother, Sarah.

Alsobrooks said that her grandmother was a housekeeper at hotels in an around Washington, D.C., but had a desire to work in federal government. To work in federal government, you had to pass a typing test, Alsobrooks said.

”Sarah could not afford a typewriter,” Alsobrooks said. “So she went into the kitchen of the family’s apartment, put a white piece of paper up on the refrigerator, drew a key board on that white piece of paper.”

Alsobrooks said her grandmother taught herself keystrokes on that piece of paper on the refrigerator and was able to pass the exam and get a government job.

”And I want you to know that I am Sarah’s legacy,” she said. “I understand that we all want the same things for our family. And that is what I have fought to deliver. (It) is what I continue to deliver.”