An alternate delegate’s sweet ride

Marcus Alzona's Tesla Cybertruck is a rolling advertisement for the state GOP. Photo by Josh Kurtz.

MILWAUKEE – Part Batmobile, part Army tank, a Maryland alternate delegate’s truck has become a rolling advertisement for the state GOP at the Republican National Convention here.

Parked across the street from the Maryland delegation’s hotel in downtown Milwaukee is a brand new, stainless steel Tesla Cybertruck belonging to Marcus Alzona, an alternate delegate from Montgomery County.

Alzona drove it from home on Saturday, stopping five times to recharge the pickup truck’s battery. He stuck large magnets with the Maryland Republican Party logo on the side panels, along with magnets with the American and Maryland flags and an advertisement for his IT consulting business.

“I’m going to the convention,” Alzona recalled thinking as he contemplated decorating the truck for the trip to Milwaukee. “We should fly the Maryland flag and the Maryland Republican Party flag.”

The truck has attracted plenty of attention this week as it sits in a parking lot right next to the sidewalk. Passers-by regularly take pictures of it. As Alzona met a reporter Thursday to show off the truck, a man was lying on the ground peering under the chassis – which made Alzona a little nervous.

Nevertheless, “I enjoy showing it,” he said. “It’s neat.”

Alzona is already a Tesla owner and has solar panels on the roof of his home. When the electric auto company first announced in 2019 that it was developing the Cybertruck, Alzona immediately paid a deposit to purchase one. Demand has been so high, that his was only delivered a few weeks ago.

It’s still a rarity to see one on U.S. roads. And Alzona himself is still learning about the features. While he and a reporter were sitting in the front seats chatting, he inadvertently figured out how the car’s rear- and front-view cameras worked. It was an exciting discovery.

Although Alzona said, “I’ve really only had it in my hands for a week or so,” the trip to Milwaukee has not been the truck’s first political assignment. He stuck large magnets supporting former Gov. Larry Hogan (R) for U.S. Senate on the side panels for the Laurel and Towson Fourth of July parades, accompanying former first lady Yumi Hogan in the latter as she marched the parade route.

“It’s the coolest thing ever,” said Ellen “EJ” McNulty, a Republican activist who rode with Alzona and others in the truck during the Towson parade, with younger members of the group standing in the bed of the truck, waving to the crowd.

The truck will also have a practical purpose with the convention ending: On Friday Alzona will pack up supplies for the Maryland GOP and audiovisual equipment for the Republican National Committee and transport them east.

Former President Donald Trump, the GOP nominee, is skeptical of clean energy and has been a sharp critic of electric car mandates, so it isn’t lost on Alzona that Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla, is now strongly supporting Trump’s reelection. Asked whether he thinks Trump’s opposition will soften because of Musk’s political support, Alzona replied, “I think so. I hope so.”

“That’s definitely going to be an interesting thing,” he said. “I’d like the industry evolve to be lower cost and more accessible for everybody.”

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