Larry Hogan scores Baltimore firefighters endorsement in string of first responder support

EXCLUSIVE — Former Maryland Republican Gov. Larry Hogan on Tuesday secured an endorsement from the Baltimore Firefighters Union in his closely watched Senate race against Democratic opponent Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks .

The endorsement, first reported by the Washington Examiner, is the latest in a series from law enforcement and first responders that Hogan has used to position himself as the "law-and-order" candidate and draw contrast to Alsobrooks.

Baltimore Firefighters IAFF Local 734, which represents professional firefighters and paramedics in Baltimore City, said the “choice is clear” between the two candidates for the contest that could determine control of the Senate.

“Governor Hogan has proven himself to be a strong, independent leader who delivers for Baltimore and Marylanders across the state,” Baltimore Firefighters IAFF Local 734 President Matthew Coster said. “First responders know Larry Hogan has always been on our team.”

The endorsement was unveiled by the Hogan campaign ahead of a Baltimore roundtable with Mayor Brandon Scott and other state and local elected Democratic officials, as well as abortion-rights groups, to discuss “the stakes of Larry Hogan delivering Republicans the 51st Senate seat.” An advisory said they’d speak with the press about how Hogan would enable a Senate GOP to “push forward their extreme agenda that includes banning abortion nationwide, caving to the gun lobby, passing unfair tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy, and more.”

The endorsement came on the heels of the Montgomery County Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 35 last week backing Hogan. Other law enforcement and first responder endorsements include the Maryland Troopers Association, more than two dozen Maryland sheriffs and state’s attorneys, the International Union of Police Associations, the State Law Enforcement Officers Labor Alliance, and first responder unions in Carroll County, Ocean City, Cecil County, and Worcester County.

Hogan has flexed his support from first responders to pitch himself to voters over that of Alsobrooks, whose tenure as the top official in Prince George’s County has included a spike in violent crime.

“Now more than ever, your officers deserve to know if your elected leaders will always have their backs,” Hogan recently told reporters. “Instead of demonizing and sabotaging the dedicated men and women of law enforcement, they deserve our respect and the tools that they need to do their jobs.”

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In an ad released last week, Alsobrooks touted her record lowering violent crime, but only in the years before becoming county executive, when she was state’s attorney for the county.

“It’s a prosecutor’s job to help keep families safe, and as state’s attorney, I did so without apology,” she said. “I believe anyone who commits a heinous crime or anyone who harms a child must be held accountable.”