The Maryland Senate race between former Gov. Larry Hogan (R) and Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks (D) is in a dead heat, according to a new poll commissioned by AARP, the advocacy group for seniors.

The same poll showed a commanding lead for Vice President Kamala Harris over former President Donald Trump in Maryland — indicating that Hogan so far is succeeding in convincing many voters to split their ballots between the political parties.

But the survey also suggests Hogan may be falling just short of the Democratic support he needs to guarantee victory — and that Alsobrooks, who is less well known to voters at the moment, has more room to grow over the final two months of the campaign.

The Senate race “literally couldn’t be closer,” said Bob Ward, one of two pollsters who designed and conducted the survey, on a Zoom call Monday with Maryland Matters.

Ward, with the Republican polling firm Fabrizio Ward, and Jeff Liszt, of the Democratic firm Impact Research, are conducting surveys for AARP across 10 states with competitive elections.

In the Maryland Senate race, Alsobrooks and Hogan each polled at 46%, with 7% of those surveyed undecided and 1% preferring other candidates. The poll of 600 likely voters was taken Aug. 14-20 and had a 4-point margin of error.

Hogan had a robust 55%-32% advantage over Alsobrooks among independent voters, while her lead among Democrats was 68%-26%.

“That’s what’s obviously keeping him in the race,” Ward said.

Both candidates were viewed quite favorably by voters, but Hogan was better known, another part of the political dynamic in the state.

“We haven’t seen a survey like this this year,” Liszt said. “The story there comes down to name ID.”

Hogan was viewed favorably by 59% of voters, compared to 28% who viewed him unfavorably. Alsobrooks was viewed favorably by 41% of voters and unfavorably by 16%. That’s a huge gap in name recognition, meaning she’s going to need to spend more time and resources working to make herself known to voters across the state

The pollsters also oversampled senior voters and Black voters in Maryland, two critical voting blocs. Eighty-seven percent of voters in Maryland over the age of 50 said their motivation to vote is a 10-out-of-10, compared with only 70% of voters 18-49 who have the same level of enthusiasm. In the 2022 midterm elections, 50+ voters made up 62% of the Maryland electorate.

“What we’ve learned is that candidates in Maryland ought to be paying attention to the concerns of older voters,” said Hank Greenberg, AARP’s Maryland director.

The Senate race is very close among voters older than 50, with Hogan ahead 47%-45%, within the poll’s margin of error. In that broad demographic, he topped Alsobrooks 52%-39% among voters 50-64, while she led 51%-43% among voters 65 and older.

The pollsters said that voters in the 50-64 demographic are generally leaning toward Republicans across the country, while those 65 and older, aging Baby Boomers, remain more liberal.

Black voters represent about 30% of the electorate in Maryland, and while their support for Harris is resolute in the White House election, their disposition could prove critical in the Senate race, where Alsobrooks is trying to make history by becoming the third Black woman elected to the U.S. Senate — and the first from Maryland.

Alsobrooks is ahead by a whopping 52 points among Black voters who are 50+. But the race is much closer among Black voters 18-49, where Alsobrooks is up by 18 points. In his successful races for governor in 2014 and 2018, Hogan took about 30% of the Democratic vote, and he also took about 30% of the Black vote in 2018, even though his Democratic challenger, Ben Jealous, was Black.

The AARP pollsters said Alsobrooks’ lower level of support among younger Black voters is largely a function of her lower name recognition in that demographic compared to older Black voters. Overall, among voters of all races ages 18-34, Hogan is leading Alsobrooks 50%-40% — which is also due to her considerably lower name ID with voters in that bracket.

Hogan’s ability to remain competitive against Alsobrooks, in a fundamentally blue state, may depend on his capacity to keep his numbers in the 30% range with Black voters and Democrats.

“The state has the highest percentage of ticket splitters, especially for voters over 50, that we’ve seen,” said Liszt. “But the fundamentals and the presidential ballot suggest you would put your money on the Democrat prevailing.”

Presidential race: Harris in command

In the White House election, Harris will have no problem winning the state by a huge margin, the survey showed.

In a head-to-head matchup with Trump, she led 64% to 32%, with 3% undecided and 1% expressing a preference for someone else. In a test of all presidential candidates, Harris took 59% compared to 29% for Trump. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — who suspended his campaign and endorsed Trump last week, though he will remain on the Maryland ballot — was at 5% in the poll. Green Party candidate Jill Stein and Libertarian Party candidate Chase Oliver each took 1%.

That’s consistent with the results of the 2020 presidential election, when President Biden won 65% of the vote in Maryland compared with Trump’s 32%.

Harris led with every demographic in Maryland, except for Republicans, where Trump unsurprisingly had an 83%-14% advantage.

In the poll, Harris was viewed favorably by 61% of voters, while 33% viewed her unfavorably. Trump’s numbers were underwater, with 30% viewing him favorably and 65% unfavorably. Biden’s favorable to unfavorable rating was 51%-42%. Gov. Wes Moore (D) was viewed favorably by 57% of voters and unfavorably by 21%.

Seniors’ priorities

In the survey, 52% of older voters in Maryland said Social Security is or will be a major source of their income, and 79% said candidate positions on Social Security are “extremely or very important” in determining their vote in November — which was the highest priority out of any issue polled.

Sixteen percent of older voters identified themselves as swing voters who aren’t going to be straight-ticket voters at either the presidential or Senate level. Among swing voters, economic issues led the way, with personal economic issues like inflation, Social Security, jobs and taxes being the top issues they care about.

Swing voters were more likely to be family caregivers: one-third of swing voters 50+ identified themselves as family caregivers. To this demographic, issues like Social Security and Medicare price negotiation stand out as disproportionately important.

“The economy is really the backdrop to this election,” Wade said. He added, that many races this year are impossible to predict: “Anything could happen. It’s 2024.”

Maryland Matters is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Maryland Matters maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Steve Crane for questions: editor@marylandmatters.org. Follow Maryland Matters on Facebook and X.

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During his first campaign for public office in 2006, when he ousted a 32-year state senator in the Democratic primary, U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-8th) called his scores of youthful volunteers “the democracy corps.”

That loose amalgamation of youthful energy has morphed through the years into the Democracy Summer, a robust program sponsored by Raskin and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee that dispatches young people across the country to work for progressive candidates and causes.

But “Democracy Summer” could also describe part of the campaign Democrats are waging against former President Donald Trump and his political allies.

And Raskin has been right in the thick of it.

Already he’s been on the road to two dozen states this election cycle, campaigning for — and sometimes against — various candidates. He’s been moving frenetically throughout Chicago during the Democratic National Convention this week, speaking to several groups. And on Monday evening, he became the first of three high-profile Maryland political leaders to speak on the convention floor in prime time (Gov. Wes Moore and Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks were the others).

All the while he’s been delivering good-humored zingers at his political foes that also expose the severity of the challenges facing the U.S.

Raskin’s floor speech was keyed to his experience as a constitutional scholar — and his roles as the impeachment manager of Trump’s second trial and as a key member of the special House committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Much of his speech focused on that terrifying day — though he began it by saying, “Hello, America! Welcome to democracy convention!”

He went on to prosecute the case against Trump and his running mate, U.S. Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio).

“Make no mistake, a man who uses fraud, theft and violence to take power will commit any crime to keep it,” Raskin told the delegates. “We’re going to defeat Donald Trump, the career criminal and incorrigible recidivist con man and his pet chameleon, JD Vance.”

But the convention speech was just part of Raskin’s agenda this week.

According to a schedule provided by the congressman’s campaign office, Raskin has spoken to eight state delegations, including Maryland — almost as many as Moore. He spoke at a meeting of the Democratic National Committee’s Interfaith Council and at a meeting of the DNC’s Climate Crisis Council. And he hosted one of the Maryland delegation’s late-night after-parties, at Harry Caray’s Tavern on Chicago’s Navy Pier — a celebration that seemed very much in Raskin’s image.

There, he hosted a reunion of some members of the indie band The Dispatch, which thrilled some members of the Maryland convention delegation.

“My favorite band,” said the party chair, Ken Ulman.

“The soundtrack to my college years,” said Frederick County Executive Jessica Fitzwater (D).

There, the band played some songs from a rock opera that Dispatch leader Chad Stokes has written called “1972,” which follows a young woman who is attempting to obtain an illegal abortion and features some of the characters she meets along the way.

Raskin advised the schmoozing politicos to go outside if they didn’t want to listen to the music. But first, he introduced the crowd to Harry Dunn, the former U.S. Capitol Police officer whom Raskin credited with saving his life, and to Michael Cohen, Trump’s former attorney and fixer, whom Raskin called “a born-again patriot.”

‘Everyone has their own Sugar Daddy’

At midday Thursday, a large room in a makeshift space in downtown Chicago known as the Democracy House was like an MSNBC junkie’s dream. Assembled there to discuss the prospects for reforming the Supreme Court were Melissa Murray, a New York University law professor and MSNBC commentator; Elie Mystal, the justice reporter for The Nation magazine, who can summon outrage the way most people breathe; Michael Waldman, the director of the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University Law School, who has written a book about the court; Adrianne Shropshire, the director of Black PAC, an organization that mobilizes Black voters; U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee; and Raskin.

For the congressman, shining a spotlight on the Supreme Court is part of his crusade to save democracy.

“There’s a fantastic ethics crisis taking place on the court,” Raskin told the crowd.

When Murray referred to the court as “a millionaire emotional support group,” Raskin chimed in, “Everyone [on the court] has their own Sugar Daddy … The nation’s highest court has the lowest ethics. Anyone in Congress would be in jail” if they accepted favors from rich benefactors the way Raskin said some justices do.

Whitehouse suggested something sinister has been afoot at the high court for years, but that it only began to come into focus after justices voted to repeal Roe v. Wade in 2022.

“You cannot explain this court with the term conservative,” he said. “That is the wrong term to use. You have to use the term covert operation. Or regulatory capture.”

Mystal called Leonard Leo, who as head of the Federalist Society promoted conservatives for federal judgeships, “a groomer.”

“People like [Justices] Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett, they were not born, they were made in a lab by Leonard Leo,” he said.

Shropshire said that Black voters have become increasingly alarmed about the direction of the Supreme Court since justices began chipping away at voting rights laws. When Black voters are asked by pollsters what they fear most, the Supreme Court comes in second, behind Trump’s reelection.

“I think all of us have to fall out of love with the Supreme Court of the United States,” Raskin said. “That doesn’t mean fall out of love with the Constitution or the Bill of Rights.”

Raskin lamented that he was planning to speak more about the Supreme Court during his convention address, but joked that he was asked by convention organizers to cut his 5,000-word speech down by 4,550 words. Still, he said, he was proud to use the term “Kangaroo Supreme Court of the United States” on the convention floor.

“I just want to note, this [conversation] is unusually spicy,” Murray said at one point.

‘Mustard that agrees with your Constitution’

Also spicy are the jars of mustard that Raskin has been handing out during convention week, “Jamie’s Strong & Sweet Democracy Mustard,” which features the slogan “Mustard that agrees with your Constitution” on its label.

The mustard was produced by Raskin’s cousins, who operate the National Mustard Museum in Middleton, Wisconsin.

The jars went especially quickly when Raskin addressed the Maryland convention delegation Thursday morning, zinging insults at Trump and Republicans to the great joy of his audience. Noting Vance’s conversion from anti-Trumper in 2016 to Trump’s running mate in 2024, he said, “Everybody’s waiting for the big debate between our amazing nominee, Kamala Harris, and Donald Trump. I’m waiting for the debate between J,D. Vance and J.D. Vance.”

Raskin also said that in response to Republicans’ insistence on referring to Democrats as “The Democrat Party,” he has taken to calling Republicans “Banana Republicans.” When he informed his wife that he had “finally gotten back at them,” she observed, “That was an extremely immature response.”

But he’s still using the line, and there’s no rest for the weary: Raskin next takes his act on the road this weekend to Saranac Lake, N.Y., in the Adirondack Mountains — not exactly a hotbed of progressive politics — where he’ll be raising money for his own campaign and for Democracy Summer.

Maryland Matters is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Maryland Matters maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Steve Crane for questions: editor@marylandmatters.org. Follow Maryland Matters on Facebook and X.

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U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-8th) of Takoma Park was the first Marylander to speak on the convention floor Monday night at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

A constitutional law professor, the manager of former President Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial and a member of the House panel that investigated the Jan. 6 insurrection, Raskin recalled the terror of the Capitol riot and slung insults about the Republicans’ disdain for democracy.

“Thank you for the beautiful weather, Chicago,” Raskin said at the top of his speech. “It’s been a little difficult on Capitol Hill, where it’s not just the heat, it’s the stupidity.”

Raskin decried “the banana Republicans who have turned Lincoln’s party into a dangerous cult of personality.” He recalled the chants of Jan. 6 insurrectionists: “Hang Mike Pence!”

“Someone should have told Donald Trump that the president’s job under Article 2 of the Constitution is to take care that the laws are faithfully executed, not that the vice president is executed,” Raskin said. He joked that U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), Trump’s current running mate, only got his job because the previous occupant, Pence, didn’t want it.

“Do you (Vance) understand why there was a sudden opening for vice president on the GOP ticket?” Raskin said. “They tried to kill your predecessor.”

Raskin reminded the crowd how courts throughout the country rejected Trump’s false claims in 2020 that the election had been stolen, but also rapped the current Supreme Court and exhorted Democrats to action.

“Let’s make it a landslide so big that Donald Trump and his kangaroo court Supreme Court justices cannot even try to steal it,” he said, to thunderous applause.

“Congressman Raskin’s courageous voice and bold defense of our democracy continues to make Marylanders proud,” Maryland Democratic Party Chair Ken Ulman said later.

Historic gathering for Alsobrooks

In the history of this republic, three Black women have served in the U.S. Senate.

One of them is a little busy right now: Kamala Harris.

But the other two, Sen. LaPhonza Butler (D-Calif.) and former Sen. Carol Moseley Braun (D-Ill.), are scheduled to appear Tuesday at a fundraiser benefiting two women who are vying to join their very exclusive club next January: U.S. Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) and Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks.

Perhaps fittingly, the historical gathering is set to take place at the DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center on this city’s South Side.

Both Alsobrooks and Blunt Rochester are bidding to replace veteran lawmakers whose political careers span decades—Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), who has spent 18 years in the Senate and first won political office in 1966, and Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), who has spent 24 years in the Senate and first won political office in 1976.

Although she is not yet the Democratic nominee—the Delaware primary doesn’t take place until Sept. 10—Blunt Rochester is heavily favored to win the Delaware seat. Alsobrooks is considered the favorite in Maryland for now, but faces a tough battle against former Gov. Larry Hogan (R).

Moseley Braun was elected to the Senate in an upset in 1992, but she lost her seat six years later. Democrats won it back in 2004 with a fellow named Barack Obama. Butler, a top policy adviser to Harris’ previous presidential campaign, was appointed to her Senate seat last year, following the death of trailblazing California Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D), and will finish up her term in January.

Tuesday’s event was organized by a campaign committee known as the Alsobrooks Blunt Rochester Victory Fund, but it’s a little more complicated than that.

According to the invitation, the proceeds will be split, depending on the size and source of contributions, in a complicated formula that’s explained in the fine print, between the two campaigns and the federal campaign accounts of the Maryland Democratic Party and the Delaware Democratic Party. Blunt Rochester’s proceeds will go first toward her primary campaign and then to the general election.

Phew!

Hogan, meanwhile, came out with three 30-second TV ads Monday. Each touts Hogan’s independence from partisan dogma and spotlights a professional woman (two are Democrats and one is independent) who is voting for Hogan.

“As a welder, I understand heat and pressure,” says Kay Williams in one of the ads. “Larry Hogan understands heat and pressure.”

“He has a common sense ideology,” says nurse Roxanne Thomas in the second ad.

“Hogan was for me the definition of solutions without judgment,” Pam Curtis, a self-described “proud Democrat,” says in the third ad.

But Democrats continue to pound away at Hogan’s preferred narrative that he will be an independent operator in the Senate. That counter-argument was repeated at the Maryland convention delegation’s breakfast Monday morning by none other than U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).

One of the charms of the hotel where the Maryland Democrats are staying and meeting is that nine other state delegations are also staying there, and the delegations are gathering in ballrooms that are close to each other. Schumer was drawn into the Maryland breakfast on his way to the Empire State meeting, after hearing whoops following Gov. Wes Moore’s rousing speech.

“Wait a minute, can I join this party?” Schumer said, as he approached the podium, to surprised cheers from the Marylanders.

“I want to make sure that we elect Angela Alsobrooks to the United States Senate,” he began. “Guess who Gov. Hogan will vote for for majority leader. It ain’t Chuck Schumer.

“Angela will do such a great, great job,” Schumer continued. “You have a great state, with Angela Alsobrooks in the U.S. Senate, with Chuck Schumer staying as majority leader, with Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the White House.”

Later, Maryland Democratic Chair Ken Ulman noted that under Schumer’s leadership, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee “has been a tremendous partner to the Maryland coordinated campaign. He is really focused on Maryland.”

Also from the podium at Monday’s delegation meeting, Alsobrooks was endorsed by Ryan Boyer, the business manager of the Metropolitan Area of Philadelphia/Baltimore/Washington Laborers’ District Council, the regional affiliate of the Laborers International Union of North America. The union often endorses Democrats — but it did back Hogan when he was seeking a second term as governor in 2018.

“Angela Alsobrooks made history as the first Black women to be elected Prince George’s County executive,” Boyer said. “With our endorsement, we are going to work with her to not only make history again, but make a difference for the working men and women of Maryland.”

Perhaps just as notably, Boyer expressed admiration for Maryland first lady Dawn Moore in a funny way, with a back-handed compliment for her husband.

“I knew he was very intelligent,” Boyer said. “He’s a Rhodes Scholar. But I wasn’t sure until I met the first lady. He’s really a genius!”

Gov. Moore, Ulman, Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller (D) and U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, the first Native American to serve in a presidential cabinet, were the other principal speakers at Monday’s delegation breakfast.

Maryland Matters is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Maryland Matters maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Steve Crane for questions: editor@marylandmatters.org. Follow Maryland Matters on Facebook and X.

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CHICAGO – Marylanders are poised to play a prominent role at this week’s Democratic National Convention – both inside the United Center, where the convention itself is taking place, and at events throughout the Windy City.

The convention officially kicks off Monday and runs through Thursday night.

Across the country, Democrats’ enthusiasm has been turbocharged since Vice President Kamala Harris replaced President Biden at the top of the ticket less than a month ago – and that’s no different for the 106 members of Maryland’s convention delegation.

“The bump we’re going to have from this convention is just going to be tremendous, that we’re going to take with us” through Election Day, Montgomery County Councilmember William Jawando, a Democratic delegate, said on a call with his donors Saturday.

Maryland’s delegates began assembling at their hotel along the Chicago River over the weekend. It’s just a few blocks from Lake Michigan, and nine other state delegations are staying in the same building.

Preliminary events for the Marylanders included a Sunday evening welcome reception at an Irish pub around the corner from their hotel. Some of the lucky delegates were also able to hit an Italian-American Democrats reception at a highly rated Italian restaurant in town earlier in the day (Maryland state Sen. Jim Rosapepe is a vice president of the group, and Brenda Lucchi, of Bowie, is the executive director).

Gov. Wes Moore (D) and Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, are among those expected to speak on the convention floor – though their speaking slots have not been locked in yet.

“Maryland’s important,” state Democratic Chair Ken Ulman said on the Jawando donor call Saturday. “Maryland plays an important role this year.”

Maryland’s convention delegation features most of the state’s Democratic heavy hitters – including much of the congressional delegation; Comptroller Brooke Lierman; Attorney General Anthony Brown; the presiding officers of the General Assembly, Speaker Adrienne A. Jones (D-Baltimore County) and Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City); several county executives, state lawmakers and local officials; political up-and-comers; wannabes; old-timers; and a handful of Moore’s top aides.

Beyond the action in the United Center, convention week for delegates is a combination of Mardi Gras and a national reunion of political junkies and wonks, with action from sun-up to the wee small hours of the morning. Many of the delegates came to Chicago straight from the Maryland Association of Counties summer convention in Ocean City, adding to the traveling circus-like atmosphere.

The delegation will meet for breakfast every day this week at their hotel. Some delegates will then hit caucus meetings or other events throughout town – the Democratic National Committee has 15 caucuses, from the Asian-American Pacific Islander Caucus to the Veterans and Military Families Council.

After the action on the convention floor each night, the Marylanders can attend after-parties near their hotel. And on Wednesday afternoon, they have the option of taking an architectural boat tour along the Chicago River.

Monday’s breakfast is billed as a tribute to Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller (D).

Wednesday’s breakfast is being sponsored by the three Democratic nominees in open-seat races for U.S. House: Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr., former U.S. Commerce Department official April McClain Delaney and state Sen. Sarah K. Elfreth (D-Anne Arundel). Olszewski and Elfreth are heavily favored to win their races in the 2nd and 3rd districts, respectively. Delaney is in a tighter race in the 6th District with former Del. Neil C. Parrott (R).

Thursday’s breakfast has been billed as a tribute to Alsobrooks.

After-parties for the delegation are being sponsored by Moore and U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-8th), among others.

Lobbypalooza

Just as lobbyists, advocacy groups and special interests are ubiquitous in Annapolis during General Assembly sessions and at other gatherings of the Maryland political tribe, they will be heavily in evidence during the Democratic convention. According to a paper being handed to Maryland convention delegates when they check in at their hotel, event sponsors for the week include:

• Harris Jones Malone, a Baltimore and Annapolis lobbying firm
• E. Harrington & Sons, a Baltimore-based utility contractor
• RISE Investment Partners, a Prince George’s development company headed by former state Del. Justin Ross (D)
• Venable LLP, the mega-law firm based in Baltimore
• CareFirst Blue Cross Blue Shield, the health insurance giant
• S. Proctor & Associates, Inc., an Annapolis and Prince George’s County lobbying firm
• The Laborers International Union of North America
• The American Federation of Government Employees
• Baltimore Gas & Electric
• Pepco
• The Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project, an electric power line proposal proposed by PSEG, a New Jersey energy company
• McDonald’s
• Allegis Redwood Maxim, a Catonsville public affairs firm
• Reworld Waste, known until recently as Covanta, the operator of a waste-to-energy plant in Montgomery County
• Lockheed Martin, the defense contractor
• Constellation Energy
• Baker McKenzie, a global law firm
• Diageo North America
• Education Reform Now Advocacy, a nonprofit think tank
• United Food & Commercial Workers Local 400
• Rice Consulting, a Democratic fundraising firm in Maryland
• Compass Advocacy, an Annapolis lobbying firm
• International Association of Firefighters Local 964
• MariMed Inc., a Massachusetts cannabis company
• Somerset Mayor Jeffrey Slavin, a prominent Democratic donor
• Mid-Atlantic Pipe Trades Association
• Mizrahi Enterprises, a Maryland technology firm
• Young Men’s Democratic Club of Prince George’s County
• Bellamy Genn Group, an Annapolis lobbying firm
• Emerge Maryland, an organization that recruits and trains Democratic women to run for political office

Bold-faced names

Alsobrooks, who is bidding to become the third Black woman ever elected to the U.S. Senate – Harris, a mentor and personal friend of Alsobrooks’, was the second – is also expected to appear at events around town, possibly in tandem with U.S. Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware, another Black woman, who is strongly favored to win a Senate seat there this fall.

Alsobrooks and Raskin are scheduled to speak to the Virginia delegation on Wednesday morning. And Alsobrooks is addressing an AAPI Caucus meeting on Wednesday.

Moore will be busy throughout the week.

“You will see a lot of our governor in Chicago,” Ulman said.

Beyond his expected floor speech, Moore on Thursday will be the featured speaker at the veterans’ caucus meeting. He’s also scheduled to talk about racial income disparities at a meeting of the Black Economic Alliance. And he said he expects to talk to Gen Z groups and other organizations throughout the week.

“I don’t expect to get much sleep,” the governor said in an interview.

Although Moore is a relative political newcomer, this is not his first convention address.

On Aug. 28, 2008, at 3:40 p.m. local time, a man introduced to the crowd as “Captain Wes Moore,” gave a 2 ½-minute speech at Invesco Field in Denver on the last day of the convention there, extolling the virtues of the Democratic presidential nominee, Barack Obama, who gave his acceptance speech that evening.

Moore was just 29 years old at the time, but he sounded some of the same themes then that he has since entering politics.

“The election is not about history,” he said at the time. “This election is not about making history. This election is about seizing history and forging a proper course for our country for the next century.”

Moore said that despite that experience, “this convention really feels like my first.”

The governor said he too feels a surge of optimism among Democrats, in Maryland and across the country. But he added a note of caution.

“I hope we don’t enter into the convention or leave the convention with a false sense of exuberance,” he said. “There’s still a lot of work to do.”

Raskin, a hero to progressives across the country, also has a busy schedule, with commitments to speak at six state delegation breakfasts, at a Climate Crisis Council meeting and at a Brennan Center discussion on the Supreme Court.

A conflict Sunday night kept Raskin from a scheduled appearance at a tribute to the Rev. Jesse Jackson at the South Side headquarters of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, the civil rights and community services organization he founded in the 1970s. Raskin, a former general counsel to the coalition, would have joined a program of speakers that included Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Rev. Al Sharpton and four of Raskin’s House colleagues, including U.S. Rep. Jonathan Jackson (D-Ill.), the son of the civil rights icon.

Despite suffering a mild stroke on Aug. 11, U.S. Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-5th), the longest-serving member of Congress in Maryland history and the senior Democrat in the House of Representatives, is planning to be in Chicago this week, according to his office. Hoyer is 85. He is scheduled to address the Maryland delegation on Tuesday.

“I can’t imagine Steny not being here,” said former Maryland Secretary of State John Willis.

Maryland’s two U.S. senators, Ben Cardin (D) and Chris Van Hollen (D) also plan to be on hand – though Cardin must first preside over a pro forma session of the U.S. Senate on Tuesday morning before heading to Chicago.

Like many of the dignitaries in the Maryland delegation, most members of Congress were still piecing together their convention schedules as the festivities began.

Abortion rights on the delegation’s agenda

While it isn’t unusual for high-ranking Maryland officials to raise money at national political conventions, two state lawmakers have decided to do so this week.

Del. Andrew C. Pruski (D-Anne Arundel) has a midday event scheduled Monday at an Irish pub in downtown Chicago. It’s a joint fundraiser for him and Conor Curran, a member of the Anne Arundel County Democratic Central Committee.

Just as Willie Sutton, the notorious thief, reportedly said he robbed banks because “that’s where the money is,” Pruski said he decided to hold a fundraiser during the convention because that’s where the political people are.

“Similar to MACo or other events, there are numerous Democratic leaders, volunteers and others that will be in Chicago,” he said. “We are looking forward to a great event.”

Another Anne Arundel County lawmaker, Del. Dana Jones (D), is also holding a joint fundraiser in Chicago on Tuesday afternoon, with Melissa Cerrato, a Pennsylvania state representative. The fundraiser, at a women’s clothing boutique, is being hosted by Anne Caprara, who happens to be Cerrato’s sister, a longtime friend of Jones’ – and the chief of staff to Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D).

“We’re her two favorite state legislators,” Jones said of Caprara, noting that Caprara also hosted Jones’ baby shower when she was expecting her first child. “We’re just old politicos from Capitol Hill.”

Jones described the fundraiser as “a great pro-choice women’s event.”

Adrienne Jones, the Maryland House speaker, and Joanna McClinton, her counterpart from Pennsylvania, will be the featured speakers.

Abortion rights will also be the topic of a fundraiser Monday afternoon featuring Ferguson, the Maryland Senate president, and his Illinois counterpart, Sen. Don Harmon (D). They’re gathering in a restaurant in Chicago’s hip Fulton Market district for an event to benefit Freedom in Reproduction – Maryland, one of the organizations pushing the ballot initiative to enshrine abortion rights in the Maryland Constitution.

Maryland Matters is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Maryland Matters maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Steve Crane for questions: editor@marylandmatters.org. Follow Maryland Matters on Facebook and X.

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The House of Delegates is one vacancy shy of a full chamber following the swearing-in Monday of a new delegate from Montgomery County.

Newly minted Del. Teresa Saavedra Woorman (D-Montgomery) was sworn-in during a ceremony in the House chamber. The aide to Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich (D) is just the most recent in a string of vacancy-related appointments to the legislature over the last two years.

“Today is the second greatest honor in my life, and I’ll explain why. I was born in Mexico, and as many of you guys know, I moved here when I was 9,” Woorman, 32, said following Monday’s ceremony. “I went to these awesome schools like Northwest High School and Montgomery College and University of Maryland, and those were great honors.

“But the first great honor of my life was to become a U.S. citizen,” she said. “I was jumping up and down at my naturalization ceremony. I’m jumping up and down inside right now because my ankle is still healing.”

Woorman was appointed by Gov. Wes Moore (D) roughly a week ago, after the Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee nominated her to fill the open seat in the three-member District 16 delegation on July 12.

She fills the vacancy created when Del. Sara Love was tapped to fill the district’s seat in the state Senate that was vacated by Sen. Ariana B. Kelly (D) – who, herself, moved from the House to the Senate to fill the vacancy left by District 16 Sen. Susan Lee, who was chosen by Moore to serve as secretary of State. Love was sworn into the Senate on June 13.

One opening currently remains in the House, a vacancy created in District 38B by the departure of Del. Carl Anderton (R-Wicomico), who recently accepted a job with the Moore administration.

Last week, the Wicomico County Republican Central Committee nominated Salisbury businessman and county GOP Chair Barry Beauchamp, to replace Anderton. That nomination awaits final approval by Moore.

Maryland Matters is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Maryland Matters maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Steve Crane for questions: editor@marylandmatters.org. Follow Maryland Matters on Facebook and X.

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The heat was suffocating when 70 Democratic politicians and activists gathered on a Frederick parking lot the other day for a rally organized by a national Democratic youth group. But the Democrats saw a hopeful metaphor.

“Are we on fire?” April McLain Delaney, the Democratic nominee in the 6th Congressional District, asked the crowd.

Even with the withering early afternoon sun, the energy was palpable — and most of the Democrats there attributed it to the recent change at the top of the ticket, with Vice President Kamala Harris poised to replace President Biden as the party’s White House nominee. Several people said they expect that momentum to accrue to Delaney in the open-seat 6th District race, and especially to Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks (D) in her battle against former Gov. Larry Hogan (R) for the state’s open U.S. Senate seat.

“We have to make sure that the energy we all felt after President Biden, with all his accomplishments, stepped down and turned things over to Vice President Harris, that that energy trickles down to these two amazing women,” said Frederick County Executive Jessica Fitzwater (D).

After fretting for the previous month that the presidential election was slipping away, Democrats from coast to coast have sensed a shift, and a surge in enthusiasm, in the race in the two weeks since Biden announced he wouldn’t seek reelection and Harris quickly became the heir apparent. And most Democratic strategists believe at least some of that same boost is materializing in down-ballot races across the country.

But how is that phenomenon materializing in Maryland’s two most competitive general elections — the Senate race and the 6th District race between Delaney and former Del. Neil C. Parrott (R-Washington)? Is it real and is it, for Democrats, sustainable?

Opinions differ.

“Every election is driven to some extent by what’s happening at the top,” said Patrick Gonzales, an Annapolis-based independent pollster and political consultant. But Gonzales said the developments at the top of the ticket play in different ways in the two big Maryland races.

The basic contours and narratives of these two competitive races haven’t changed all that much in the past few weeks. And yet, the Alsobrooks camp clearly believes that their candidate, a Black woman and former prosecutor, benefits from the presence of Harris, a Black woman and former prosecutor — who, incidentally, is a friend and mentor to Alsobrooks — at the top of the ticket. Turnout among Black women, stalwart supporters of Democrats generally, should be supercharged with Harris as the presidential nominee against former President Donald Trump.

“I hope you all feel the euphoria that we’ve all felt for the past week,” Alsobrooks told the crowd at the Frederick rally, which was organized by the Tour to Save Democracy, a Democratic youth group that has been stumping in swing congressional districts over the past three weeks.

All along, one of the main arguments for Alsobrooks as she presses her campaign against Hogan, a popular two-term governor who is considered a moderate by modern Republican standards, is that Democrats need to maintain control of the U.S. Senate.

“The question we are asking in this election is not whether we like Larry Hogan, or whether we think he was a good governor,” Alsobrooks said. “The question we are asking in this election is who gets the 51st vote” in the Senate.

Harris’ presence in the race, Alsobrooks said after the youth rally, reinforces that message.

“Nobody understands more than Vice President Harris the importance of keeping the majority in the Senate,” she said.

Asked whether they see a change in dynamic in the Senate race since Harris became the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, the Hogan campaign did not answer directly. Blake Kernen, a Hogan spokesperson, said, “In politics today, we expect candidates to prioritize their allegiance to party leaders over the interests of their constituents. Marylanders know that’s not Governor Hogan. Governor Hogan has a proven record of independent leadership, challenging hyper-partisanship, advancing Maryland’s priorities and restoring decency and common sense to our nation’s politics. That is what these chaotic times call for, and that’ll be his focus regardless of who’s at the top of the ticket.”

But Paul Ellington, a Republican strategist and former executive director of the Maryland GOP, said Alsobrooks can’t help but benefit from the Harris presence as the White House nominee.

“This will be like ’08, when the base the county executive is going to need in November is going to be super excited,” he said.

Hogan continues to highlight his political independence. Last week, he debuted a 90-second digital ad that spotlighted the career of the late U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), a political maverick, and tried to cast himself in McCain’s image. Hogan was also the rare Republican last week to blast Trump after he questioned Harris’ racial identity during an appearance before the National Association of Black Journalists, though he did not mention the ex-president by name.

“It’s unacceptable and abhorrent to attack Vice President Harris or anyone’s racial identity,” Hogan wrote on X. “The American people deserve better.”

During his successful campaigns for governor in 2014 and 2018, when he defeated Black Democrats, Hogan picked up significant chunks of Black voters and Democratic voters — taking about 30% of each voting bloc in 2018, when he won reelection by more than a dozen points. Several strategists and political analysts believe that he will need to come close to duplicating those numbers to have any chance against Alsobrooks — which will be difficult in a presidential election year, and with an abortion rights initiative on the statewide ballot.

Three leading nonpartisan political handicappers — The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, and the University of Virginia Center for Politics — all rate the Maryland Senate race as “Likely Democrat” at the moment.

Maryland Democrats, including the Alsobrooks campaign, continue to hammer Hogan on being the choice of national Republicans, and the stakes involved in this election. Alsobrooks, following the youth rally last week, called it “an example” of the burgeoning Democratic enthusiasm as the election grows closer.

Gonzales, the pollster — who plans to be in the field with a statewide survey later this month, after the Democratic National Convention — said both Hogan and Alsobrooks are well-established political figures whose political fortunes may not automatically be linked to national trends.

“My sense is by the time the election rolls around, both Angela Alsobrooks, who is getting known to the voters of Maryland, and Gov. Larry Hogan are two candidates who are going to stand on their own,” Gonzales said. “They both possess distinct political qualities that are going to create an election where the two of them are going to rise and fall on their own.”

‘Western Maryland will show up’ for Trump, Parrott

In the 6th District, the dynamic is a little different. Running in the only swing congressional district in the state, Delaney may benefit from overall Democratic optimism and enthusiasm, but she still has to modulate and moderate her message while staying away from some of the perceived leftwing policies of Harris.

The 6th District, which takes in a piece of Montgomery County and then runs through Frederick, Washington, Allegany and Garrett counties, also has huge swaths of territory where Trump will be a huge asset to Parrott. Delaney said as much, even as she acknowledged witnessing “so much excitement [among Democrats] right now.”

“With Hogan at the top of the ticket, with Trump — and some people would march anywhere with Trump — we have our work cut out for us,” Delaney said. She added that Parrott, as the three-time Republican nominee in the district, is better known to voters at this point than she is, even though her husband, former U.S. Rep. John Delaney (D), held the seat from 2013 to 2019.

Ellington, the GOP strategist, said the national political trends “will have some bleedover” in the 6th District, and that Trump at the top of the ticket benefits Parrott.

“The energy level among the Trump base is high, and Western Maryland will show up for them,” he said.

Parrott did not respond to a request for comment last week.

At the national level, both parties are watching the race carefully and believe it is close – but it has yet to rise to a top priority contest for either side. Two of the three national handicappers currently rate the race as “Likely Democratic,” while Inside Elections recently put it in the “Safe Democratic” category, in part because it judged Delaney to be a stronger Democratic nominee than some of the candidates she defeated in the May 14 primary.

Gonzales said the 6th District’s voter registration is roughly 42% Democratic, 40% Republican, and 18% independent voters. That means Parrott and Delaney have to motivate their political bases while also appealing to swing voters.

While Parrott benefits from the fact that he’s the GOP nominee for the third straight election and enjoys some measure of name recognition as a result, Delaney benefits from the robust spending of the district’s outgoing congressman, David Trone (D), which he used in part to paint Parrott as out of the political mainstream.

Delaney made some of the same arguments last week.

“In my race, whether it’s Hogan or Parrott, they’re both extremists — and we have to work to get that message out,” she said.

But in competitive House races across the country, the National Republican Congressional Committee is trying to paint the Democrats as extremists — and Harris becomes a handy conduit.

Last week, after the U.S. Justice Department announced that it had reached plea deals with some of the architects of the 9/11 terrorist strikes, the NRCC issued 30 separate news releases attacking vulnerable House Democrats and congressional nominees in competitive districts. Delaney did not merit her own targeted attack from the NRCC, but the campaign committee labeled the news as “the Harris terrorist plea deal.”

“Kamala Harris’ terrorist plea deal is yet another example of Democrats’ failure to protect the American people,” said NRCC spokesperson Savannah Viar said of the plea deals, which have since been withdrawn by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

Similarly, the Maryland Republican Party, in a social media post last week, wrote, “This election is not going to be a fight against a typical Democrat, this is a fight to prevent the most extreme far-left President in the history of the United States.”

Is that rhetoric going to carry the day in Maryland with Democrats so much more motivated to turn out than they were just a few weeks ago?

Drew Spiegel, an organizer with the Tour to Save Democracy, the Democratic youth group that hosted the rally in Frederick last week, has been visiting competitive congressional districts in California, Arizona, Texas, Nebraska, Michigan and Pennsylvania for the past few weeks, and the tour was on its way to Syracuse, N.Y., after leaving Maryland.

“You’re definitely seeing more enthusiasm in gatherings and on social media,” he said. “Now it’s starting to translate to the polls.”

Maryland Matters is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Maryland Matters maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Steve Crane for questions: editor@marylandmatters.org. Follow Maryland Matters on Facebook and X.

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Maryland Democratic Sens. Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen usually see eye-to-eye and frequently work in tandem. But they have diverged when it comes to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s scheduled speech to Congress Wednesday.

Cardin, in his role as chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, will preside over the joint session of Congress alongside U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.). Van Hollen, in a fiery Senate floor speech Tuesday that condemned Israel’s prosecution of the war in Gaza under Netanyahu, said he planned to boycott Wednesday’s proceedings.

In his speech, Van Hollen laid out strenuous objections to Netanyahu’s “ultra-right” political views.

Van Hollen is not the only one skipping the speech. Politico reported that close to 30 Senate and House Democrats had reported plans as of Tuesday afternoon to skip the speech. Members of Maryland’s U.S. House delegation who responded to queries from Maryland Matters also appeared split Tuesday evening on whether they would attend or not.

Netanyahu was invited several weeks ago by Johnson and House Republicans, in a move that, among other things, will highlight GOP support for Netanyahu and Democrats’ internal divisions over Israel and the Gaza war.

It is those very divisions, in fact, that will find Cardin in the temporary role as the Senate’s presiding officer Wednesday. Ordinarily, the vice president, as president of the Senate, would sit on the dais during a foreign dignitary’s speech.

But Vice President Kamala Harris, newly minted as the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, has a longstanding commitment to be campaigning in Indiana Wednesday — though she does plan to meet with Netanyahu later in the week, while he’s still in Washington, D.C., as does President Joe Biden. U.S Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) addresses the Senate chamber in file photo from 2020. Screenshot.

Senate President Pro Tempore Patty Murray (D-Wash.) would normally preside in Harris’ stead, but Murray is among the Democratic lawmakers who have chosen to boycott Netanyahu’s congressional appearance.

Nine months after Hamas’ brutal Oct. 7 attack on Israel, and Israel’s sustained pounding of Gaza in response, Cardin has said he hopes Netanyahu uses the speech to to lay out a vision for peace between Israel and Palestine.

In his own speech on the Senate floor Tuesday evening, Cardin called for the immediate release of the remaining hostages being held in Gaza.

“There is no justification for the holding of the hostages,” he said. “We have an opportunity to reach an agreement. Let’s do this. Let’s get it done. Let’s get the hostages home. Let’s hold the perpetrators accountable for the atrocities that they have perpetrated. And let’s find a path for real security and peace in the Middle East for the Palestinians and the Israelis.”

But Van Hollen said that after a recent visit to Israel he did not think it was right to host Netanyahu who, he said, represented an “ultra-right Israeli government” that was opposed to a “two-state solution” with the Palestinians. The senator asserted that Netanyahu has not prioritized the safe return of hostages held by Hamas or shown adequate concern for the families of Israeli victims of the Oct. 7 attacks.

Van Hollen said in his speech that he was not interested in validating the “ultra-right” and “extremist” prime minister by attending his congressional address. He said that the prime minister should care for his own constituency before coming to America to appeal to Congress for more financial and political support.

Van Hollen reiterated, however, that Israel had a right to defend itself from Hamas and that it has the right to neutralize any threat from the organization.

The senators’ divergent approach to the current politics of the Middle East reflects to a degree their political pedigrees and priorities.

Cardin, 80, is Jewish and has long been a vocal supporter of Israel — as are many residents of the heavily Jewish precincts of Baltimore City and Baltimore County where he came of age politically. He is one of nine Jews currently serving in the U.S. Senate.

But Cardin has not been hesitant to criticize the Netanyahu government when he feels it is appropriate, and he has regularly called for more humanitarian assistance for Gaza.

Van Hollen, 65, is the son of diplomats who spent part of his childhood overseas and worked for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee before launching his own political career in Montgomery County. He has amped up his criticism of Netanyahu in recent months and called for an immediate ceasefire, attracting criticism from some U.S. Jewish leaders, and an immediate return of the hostages.

Maryland Matters reached out to all eight members of the state’s House delegation Tuesday afternoon to ask if they planned to attend the Netanyahu speech. Reps. John Sarbanes (D-3rd), Steny Hoyer (D-5th) and David Trone (D-6th) will be in attendance, their offices said, while Rep. Kweisi Mfume (D-7th) said he would skip the event.

U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-8th), who has been sharply critical of Netanyahu, is planning to attend the speech, but his office said in a lengthy statement Wednesday that he and some colleagues will meet beforehand with families of the hostages who “speak for the majority of Israelis who disapprove of Netanyahu’s performance in office.”

Spokespeople for Reps. Andy Harris (R-1st), Dutch Ruppersberger (D-2nd) and Glenn Ivey (D-4th) did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Israel-Gaza conflict has vexed the Biden administration: The president has been a strong ally of Israel through his long political career, but has faced mounting criticism from both the left and the right as the war has dragged on. Biden has been increasingly critical of Netanyahu in recent months, which has angered pro-Israel Republicans. But his criticisms have not been enough to satisfy progressive Democrats, who are largely sympathetic to the Palestinian war victims.

In addition to addressing Congress and meeting with Biden and Harris this week, Netanyahu is traveling to former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida Friday for a conversation.

U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), Trump’s vice presidential running mate, will also miss the prime minister’s speech so he can continue campaigning Wednesday. The Trump campaign told Jewish Insider Tuesday that Vance “stands steadfastly with the people of Israel in their fight to defend their homeland, eradicate terrorist threats, and bring back their countrymen held hostage.”

– This story was updated at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, July 24, to correct Van Hollen’s description of Netanyhu as “ultra-right,” to include comments from Cardin’s floor speech Tuesday night and to update the list of Maryland House members attending.

Maryland Matters is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Maryland Matters maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Steve Crane for questions: editor@marylandmatters.org. Follow Maryland Matters on Facebook and X.

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Maryland’s 106 delegates to the Democratic National Convention could vote to make Vice President Kamala Harris the party’s presidential nominee as soon as Thursday.

While the national convention isn’t set to begin until Aug. 19 in Chicago, party officials believe the presidential roll call may need to be held virtually and earlier, rather than on the convention floor. That’s because deadlines in a handful of states require the political parties to have their nominee certified before or during the Democrats’ convention week.

The DNC Rules Committee is set to meet Wednesday afternoon to definitely set the schedule for the presidential roll call. Some media outlets have suggested it could happen as soon as Thursday.

“We’re trying to make sure there’s a process and that everyone is listened to,” said Ken Ulman, the chair of the Maryland Democratic Party, who serves on the rules committee.

That panel is scheduled to meet publicly on Wednesday from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. The meeting will be live-streamed on the DNC’s YouTube page.

Whenever the presidential vote takes place, Maryland’s Democratic convention delegation is in the spotlight like never before, thanks to President Biden’s decision to drop his reelection bid and Harris’ quick emergence as the consensus candidate to replace him.

The delegation met virtually on Monday morning and voted unanimously to support Harris for president. All of the delegates had previously been committed to Biden and still need to be formally released by the president before they can cast their votes for his successor.

Maryland’s convention delegation automatically starts with Gov. Wes Moore (D), the Democratic members of the state’s congressional delegation, Ulman, state party Vice Chair Charlene Dukes, and the state party’s four representatives to the Democratic National Committee: Robert Kresslein, Cheryl S. Landis, Robbie Leonard, and Bel Leong-Hong.

Several delegates were elected by congressional district in the May 14 primary as delegates pledged to Biden. Others were added to the convention delegation a month later by the Maryland Democratic Central Committee.

Here are the delegates elected and selected to the convention (the state party was not able to provide full biographies on Monday):

1st Congressional District:

Laurie Brittingham, member of the state Democratic Central Committee

Matthew Cody

Michele W. Dappert, former candidate for Talbot County Council

Connor A. Romblad, Berlin town official

State Del. Sheree Sample-Hughes

Jared Schablein, chair, Lower Shore Progressive Caucus

2nd Congressional District:

Ruben Amaya, 3rd vice chair, Maryland Democratic Party

Lela Blue-Campbell, Democratic activist and president of A Step Forward Inc., a service organization for homeless people with addiction problems

Corynne B. Courpas, chair of the Carroll County Democratic Central Committee

Alex Friedman, law student and Democratic activist

State Sen. Shelly L. Hettleman

Sharonda L. Huffman, Democratic activist and housing disability manager with a Baltimore-area nonprofit

Greg Pecoraro, Westminster common council member

3rd Congressional District:

Dylan A. Behler, Anne Arundel County Democratic chair

Jennifer H. Chang

State Sen. Guy J. Guzzone

State Del. Dana C. Jones

Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, climate activist and philanthropist

Henry G. Snurr, chief of staff to House Majority Whip Jazz Lewis (D-Prince George’s)

Matthew Verghese, director of the Maryland state government federal office

Lucinda Ware, former deputy chief of staff to Gov. Wes Moore (D) and senior adviser to the Moore campaign

4th Congressional District:

Rushern L. Baker IV, visual artist and community and political activist

Mollie K. Byron, director of intergovernmental affairs for Gov. Moore

Kevin Ford Jr., Prince George’s County businessperson

Ryan Middleton, director of government accountability, Prince George’s County executive’s office

Dani E. Moore-King, real estate professional

State Del. Joseline A. Peña-Melnyk

State Sen. Alonzo T. Washington

Arleathia West, clinical social worker

5th Congressional District:

State Del. Adrian A. Boafo

Tiffany A. Carlock

Courtney Finklea Green, deputy director, Maryland 529 program

Zina Humphries, Democratic activist

Edward I. Lewis, husband of former Maryland Democratic Chair Yvette Lewis

State Del. Andrew C. Pruski

David M. Salazar, director of support services, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and former chair of the Calvert County Democratic Party

Ashley N. Sharp, deputy chief of staff, Maryland Department of Labor

Cindy L. Yoe, chair, Calvert County Democratic Central Committee

6th Congressional District:

Donna S. Edwards, president, Maryland State and D.C. AFL-CIO

Jessica E. Fitzwater, Frederick County executive

Brian K. Grim, former mayor of Cumberland

Djawa Hall, political coordinator, local 1199 SEIU

State Sen. Karen Lewis Young

Thomas G. Slater, retired attorney and longtime member of the Frederick County Democratic Central Committee

7th Congressional District:

Tisha S. Edwards, Gov. Moore’s appointments secretary

Diana Emerson, executive director, Waverly Main Street, Baltimore

State Sen. Antonio L. Hayes

Bill Henry, Baltimore City comptroller

Brandon M. Scott, Baltimore mayor

State Del. Stephanie M. Smith

Tammy Stinnett, firm administrator, Harris Jones & Malone lobbying firm

John T. Willis, former Maryland secretary of state

8th Congressional District:

Saman Q. Ahmad, chair, Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee

Mark Feinroth, attorney, former lobbyist, former state official

Will Jawando, Montgomery County councilmember

Eric G. Luedtke, Gov. Moore’s legislative liaison

State Del. Lily Qi

Devang M. Shah, treasurer, Maryland Democratic Party

State Sen. Jeff Waldstreicher

State Del. Jheanelle K. Wilkins

Teresa Saavedra Woorman, Montgomery County public information officer, nominated to fill the District 16 vacancy in the House of Delegates

Julie Rodin Zebrak, Attorney, political consultant, Democratic fundraiser

Delegates selected by the state Democratic central committee:

Lt. Gov. Aruna K. Miller

State Attorney General Anthony G. Brown

State Comptroller Brooke E. Lierman

State Treasurer Dereck E. Davis

Maryland Secretary of State Susan C. Lee

State Senate President Bill Ferguson

Speaker of the House Adrienne A. Jones

House Majority Whip Jazz M. Lewis

Johnny Olszewski Jr., Baltimore County executive and Democratic nominee in the 2nd Congressional District

Angela D. Alsobrooks, Prince George’s County executive and Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate

Marc B. Elrich, Montgomery County executive

Sydney Bradner-Jacobs, Pride Caucus chair of the Young Democrats of Maryland

Logan Danker, student activist

State Sen. Sarah K. Elfreth, Democratic nominee in the 3rd Congressional District

Joshua Hirsh, Howard County Democratic Central Committee

Tia Hopkins, Baltimore-based political strategist

Lloyd Lemle, teacher, former Howard County Education Association president

State Del. Jeffrie E. Long Jr.

Madelin Martinez, assistant advocacy director, Catholic Charities of Baltimore

Januari McKay, Prince George’s County Department of Social Services case manager

Alejandra Melnyk, former field organizer, David Trone for U.S. Senate

Michelle Ngwafon, deputy regional director, Biden for President

Ifechukwudelu Okafor

Megan Outten, former Salisbury city councilmember

Josh Paper, chief of staff to Del. Dana Jones (D-Anne Arundel)

Kony Portillo, Edmonston councilmember

Lillia Rose, student activist

Tyler Senecharles, candidate account manager, Adeo Advocacy

Michael Steed

Mini Timmaraju, president, Reproductive Freedom for All

State Del. Nicole A. Williams

Samantha Zwerling, managing director of political and legislative affairs, Maryland State Education Association

– Jennifer Shutt of States Newsroom contributed to this report.

Maryland Matters is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Maryland Matters maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Steve Crane for questions: editor@marylandmatters.org. Follow Maryland Matters on Facebook and X.

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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.”

Maryland Matters is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Maryland Matters maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Steve Crane for questions: editor@marylandmatters.org. Follow Maryland Matters on Facebook and X.

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MILWAUKEE — There is only one celebrity in the Maryland delegation to the Republican National Convention, and it isn’t an elected official, party donor or business titan.

He’s not a household name, but David Bossie is a central figure in former President Donald Trump’s orbit — and in the broader conservative political movement.

By day, he’s the head of Citizens United, the provocative national conservative organization that has literally changed the way campaigns are waged in America.

“It’s a great organization,” said Joe Arpaio, the controversial former Arizona sheriff who has become an icon in the MAGA movement.

Closer to home, Bossie is Maryland’s representative to the Republican National Committee and chair of the state’s delegation to the GOP convention this week. It was the Ashton resident’s task Monday afternoon to inform the nation that Maryland’s delegation was unanimous in its support for Trump.

Friends and admirers tout Bossie’s political acumen and ability to play multiple roles in conservative politics. They also describe him as a devoted family man who loves his country and his state.

The head of a national political reform organization that formed to oppose Bossie’s work says he “represents everything that’s broken in our politics.”

On Wednesday, Citizens United will debut a feature-length Bossie-produced documentary called “Trump’s Rescue Mission: Saving America.” In a convention already marked by Trump hagiography, this may mark a new high — or low, depending on one’s viewpoint — of the Trump worship on display.

“This is an important film in the most important year in the history of America,” Bossie told Charlie Kirk, head of pro-Trump youth organization called Turning Point USA on a podcast Saturday.

Bossie told Kirk that Trump was planning to introduce the movie Wednesday, but that was before Trump survived an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania on Saturday. Bossie did not respond to messages left over several days with Citizens United and the Maryland Republican Party, and it’s not known if Trump still plans to speak at the screening.

Coincidentally, the movie will be shown in the Miller High Life Theater, the same one where Theodore Roosevelt spoke in 1912, just minutes after surviving an assassination attempt across the street.

It’s not Bossie’s first foray into filmmaking. In 2016, Citizens United debuted “Torchbearer,” about “Duck Dynasty” patriarch Phil Robertson, at the GOP convention in Cleveland. Robertson had become a hero to conservatives over his multiple battles with government regulators.

More famously, Citizens United produced an anti-Hillary Clinton movie that became the basis of a 2010 U.S. Supreme Court case that dramatically reordered the nation’s campaign finance system. Citizens United challenged campaign finance limits at the time, arguing that they impeded its ability to promote “Hillary: The Movie.”

The high court’s ruling essentially equated campaign donations with speech, paving the way for unlimited spending in most elections, and turbocharging the rise of “dark money” in politics. The fallout is everywhere: On airwaves thick with political advertising and in the prevalence of shadowy groups with neutral names and hard-to-trace funding streams, pushing agendas.

Notably, former President Barack Obama lectured the Supreme Court for the Citizens United decision during his 2011 State of the Union address.

“David Bossie represents everything that’s broken in our politics,” said Tiffany Muller, president of End Citizens United, which supports candidates who favor countering impacts of the Citizens United ruling. “The Supreme Court case that bears his organization’s name opened the floodgates of unlimited and undisclosed money in our elections and fundamentally changed the way elections are run in America.”

Citing a 2019 controversy in which Bossie and Citizens United were accused of trying to cash in on their association with Trump by using his image in fundraising appeals, Muller said Bossie has “sought to line his own pockets while feeding into the most extreme elements of the MAGA movement. Bossie’s influence — both in Maryland and nationally — runs deep and continues to contribute to the erosion of our democracy.”

Bossie has long been unapologetic about the long-term political and societal impacts of the Citizens United ruling, calling it “a victory for free speech.”

“At its core, the Citizens United decision encourages more participation in America’s political process,” he wrote in a Fox News commentary on the decision’s 10th anniversary. “Much to the dismay of the left, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission was a case about free speech and whether the First Amendment protected the American people from government attempts to limit speech. Nothing more, nothing less.”

Bossie has also gleefully accused End Citizens United of being a partisan organization. The group, through it’s political action committee, has endorsed Democrats who support campaign finance reform almost exclusively since its founding in the wake of the ruling — including Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks in this year’s Maryland election for U.S. Senate.

‘Donald Trump must save America’

Bossie, 58, was a confrontational conservative well before the political rise of Donald Trump’s MAGA movement.

He cut his teeth in politics on former President Ronald Reagan’s campaigns and as a national leader of the Young Republicans. Later, he was a top aide to former Rep. Dan Burton (R-Indiana), who ran high-profile investigations of Bill and Hillary Clinton when they occupied the White House.

Bossie took over Citizens United in 2000. The group was founded by Floyd Brown, who produced the infamous “Willie Horton” ad that helped sink Democrat Michael Dukakis’ presidential campaign in 1988.

Bossie’s influence in Maryland spiked considerably in early 2016 when he ousted the state’s long-time Republican national committeeman, Louis Pope, who came from the party’s Main Street/country club wing. It was a harbinger of the growing Trump movement in the state GOP and throughout the country.

The national committee members are the state party’s conduit to the national Republican organization.

“Dave’s a great partner,” said Nicolee Ambrose, Maryland’s Republican National Committeewoman — whose own victory in a bitter internecine election in 2012 created a new conservative power dynamic in the state GOP.

During the 2016 election, Bossie took time off from Citizens United to become Trump’s deputy campaign manager. Since then, he has remained an outside adviser and frequent cheerleader of the ex-president’s, helping to run Trump’s war room during his first impeachment case.

“Donald Trump must save America, and that’s why we made this movie,” Bossie told Kirk Saturday. “We either win this election in America and Donald Trump takes over the White House, we win the House and Senate and save America, or we are destined for the ash heap of history.”

The movie trailer displays Trump in his macho best, striding across stages, filmed at flattering camera angles, his rhetoric resolute. And this was before he survived Saturday’s shooting, which has boosted his stature among supporters to epic, almost mythical proportions.

In the trailer, President Joe Biden is portrayed as bumbling and stumbling. And the film emphasizes Trump talking points about crime and immigration, inflation and the economy.

“Everybody must see the film so you can educate yourself and tell your neighbors and family why Joe Biden, and not just Joe Biden, but the crazy left and their disastrous policies, what they have done to America over the past four years, versus Donald Trump’s four years of peace and prosperity,” Bossie said on Kirk’s podcast. “When Americans are looking at this film, there’s no way to come out of it not being for Donald Trump.”

Among Maryland Republicans, Bossie is known for his pipeline to Trump intimates and even to the ex-president himself. He helps elevate a Democratic state that doesn’t always figure prominently in national GOP politics, they say.

“In a typically blue state, it’s nice to have someone in that inside-baseball role,” said Wicomico County Executive Julie Giordano (R), a convention delegate.

Maryland Republicans say Bossie can also smooth over relations with Trump and his associates when GOP politicians in the state try to distance themselves from the former president out of political necessity. They even attribute the delegation’s prime Milwaukee hotel space – just around the corner from Trump’s hotel – to Bossie’s intervention, when bigger and more consequential delegations find themselves out in suburbia.

“He (Bossie) loves our state,” said Del. Kathy Szeliga (R-Baltimore County), a conservative leader in Maryland and convention delegate. “He could live anywhere and he lives in Maryland. It’s nice to know that he gets us — and he’s right there with President Trump sharing about the struggles and concerns of the people in Maryland.”

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