Maryland Democratic Senate nominee Angela Alsobrooks on Thursday unveiled an ad featuring past clips of her Republican rival, Larry Hogan, closely identifying himself with the GOP.
The 30-second montage shows the former two-term centrist governor stating in various interviews that he’s a “die-hard, lifelong Republican,” couldn’t “possibly support the Democratic nominee,” and would not “call myself a moderate.”
Hogan has since said he will vote for neither Vice President Kamala Harris nor former President Donald Trump and plans to instead cast an unspecified “symbolic” vote. His campaign has said his “greatest challenge” in deep-blue Maryland is continuing to put distance between himself and the national party.
“Larry Hogan said it loud and clear,” the Alsobrooks campaign said. “He’s a lifelong Republican who will proudly give Mitch McConnell the Senate majority.”
The Hogan campaign assailed the ad as “what panic mode looks like.”
“Marylanders know Governor Hogan is an independent leader who has stood up to his party time and again, and they know his proven record of working across the aisle to deliver common sense, bipartisan solutions,” the campaign said.
Make no mistake, Larry Hogan is a “die-hard lifelong Republican” who will hand Republicans control of the Senate.
You don’t have to take my word for it, just ask him yourself. pic.twitter.com/enVDTkBIU3
— Angela Alsobrooks (@AlsobrooksForMD) August 29, 2024
The Hogan campaign went on to say Alsobrooks, the county executive of Prince George’s County, Maryland, “is running only on her party affiliation, but another rubber stamp won’t do anything to change Washington.”
“We fully expect these partisan attacks to continue and become even more desperate in the weeks ahead,” the campaign added.
The ad presented the latest skirmish between Hogan and Alsobrooks in a surprisingly competitive race in a state that could sway control of the Senate. A bipartisan poll this week from AARP showed the contest in a dead heat at 46% for both candidates, but nonpartisan election forecasters still heavily favor Alsobrooks to win.
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Alsobrooks and Democratic allies have sought to nullify Hogan’s centrist reputation, painting him as a partisan who will enable a conservative agenda under a GOP majority and present a threat to Democratic policy priorities like abortion access, which Hogan has vowed to protect.
Democrats in Maryland are being far outspent by Republicans in the race, an indicator of the level of confidence from the Alsobrooks team of their prospects at the ballot box. Future ad reservations in the Old Line State stand at nearly $8 million from Republicans and just $258,000 from Democrats, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact.