Insurgent Dem Knocks Off Wealthy Wine Mogul to Win Senate Primary

After a bitter primary battle against a wealthy wine mogul, Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks was projected to win the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in Maryland, laying the table for a bruising match-up with former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R).

She was projected by the Associated Press to defeat the deep-pocketed Rep. David Trone (D-MD) in this cycle’s most competitive Democratic primary ahead of a flippable Senate race.

Though the primary was a costly brawl, with Trone self-funding to the tune of a staggering $61 million, the general election could be just as pricey—with Alsobrooks set to take on on Hogan, a moderate darling of Maryland politics despite the R next to his name. By jumping into the race earlier this year, Hogan turned a solidly blue state into a tantalizing Republican flip.

Democrats have already tried to brand Hogan as a red-meat MAGA Republican to counter his appeal with swingy independents. Getting their anti-Hogan message out will force Democrats to dedicate substantial national resources into the race or risk losing the Senate majority. In what should be a slam dunk for the Dems, the race is already siphoning funds and media focus away from even tighter races in Ohio, Montana, and Pennsylvania.

The Senate’s Democratic campaign arm had already released a memo Monday morning chock-full of attacks on Hogan under the subject line: “What to Know About Self-Described ‘Lifelong Republican’ Larry Hogan.”

Alsobrooks cast herself as the best candidate to take on Hogan in November, though early polling suggested that both she and Trone would have their hands full boosting their message and name recognition in the run-up to election day.

In the Senate, Alsobrooks has positioned herself as a reliably blue vote and has made protecting abortion access—an animating issue for Democrats nationally—central to her platform. If she wins in November, Alsobrooks would be the first Black woman to represent Maryland in the Senate.

She also leaned on backing from the Maryland Democratic establishment that largely turned its back on Trone, despite his being a sitting congressman. In the days leading up to the election, Alsobrooks dropped a star-studded ad touting her endorsements from the Maryland Democratic establishment, including Gov. Wes Moore, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and former Majority Leader Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD). (Hoyer, for one, seems to be having fun stumping for Alsobrooks and has been spotted on the trail doing his signature Steny shuffle.)

Alsobrooks’ camp capitalized on a series of flubs from Trone, hitting him for being offensive and out-of-touch. The three-term congressman used a racial slur of Black people at a congressional hearing. (Trone has since apologized, claiming he meant to use the word “bugaboo.)

On Monday, Trone dug his hole deeper. When NBC News asked Trone about his outreach to Black voters, he referenced his modest upbringing on a chicken and hog farm that his family lost to bankruptcy. He then dinged Alsobrooks for attending private school.

“I didn’t even have indoor plumbing,” Trone said, still responding to NBC’s question about connecting with Black voters. “We had an outhouse. And I grew up in a family that was destroyed by alcoholism, destroyed. So we grew up in a tough circumstance, and things weren’t easy. But at the end of the day, we became successful and said, OK now I got to give back.”

For his part, Trone dropped ads attacking Alsobrooks for her lack of federal experience and leaned on his rags-to-riches story becoming the wealthy owner of Total Wine & More. Trone’s wealth made him attractive to national Democratic campaign brass eager for a self-funder to take on Hogan, but support from establishment types like House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) was not enough to juice Trone’s campaign.

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