Former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan (R) formalized his outreach to Democratic voters in the blue state, a day after winning the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate seat of the retiring Ben Cardin (D). He turned to former Democratic State Senator Bobby Zirkin (MD-11) to lead "Democrats for Hogan," a coalition voters can join that will spearhead the popular former governor's effort to win with bipartisan support in November.
Hogan enjoyed such support during his two terms as governor, and with his attacks on Donald Trump, reporters and pundits pointed out that polling showed him more popular with Democrats than in his own party at times. Some Republicans took to calling Hogan "Lockdown Larry" for his response to the pandemic, but he received high marks for his handling of the Covid-19 crisis from a majority of voters.
"I’ve been a lifelong Democrat, and as a Democrat, I’m excited to vote and support and work for Larry Hogan for the United States Senate. He is exactly the leader we need," Zirkin said in a video released by the Hogan for Maryland campaign. "I encourage all of my fellow Democrats to really review the record of Governor Hogan, to look at things like fracking and criminal justice reform and cyberbullying, and the way that he was able to hold the line on taxes and still invest in things that are important like education and the Chesapeake Bay. Maybe most importantly, for those of you who believe like me from both parties - but I’m talking to the Democrats right now - that the hyper-partisanship in Washington is not what we should expect from our leaders. That we should expect them to work together. And if you believe that like I do, then I would encourage you to come out and support Larry Hogan for the United States Senate."
Not so fast, Hogan's Democratic opponent, Angela Alsobrooks said with her postings on social media today. Alsobrooks tweeted a video in which she emphasizes Hogan's identity as Republican rather than bipartisan. She retweeted an endorsement from Hillary Clinton, in which the former U.S. Senator wrote of the current Prince George's County Executive, "Maryland, help this extraordinary public servant become your next Senator!" Not surprisingly, the overarching theme of Alsobrooks' output today was abortion. So far, the campaign and all of its surrogates are laser-focused on the pro-choice message, which Democrats have found to be a winning one since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
The topic was also on Hogan's agenda today. Referring to his record at the state level, he tweeted, "As governor, I protected the rights of Maryland women to make their own reproductive health decisions. I will do the same in the Senate by restoring Roe v. Wade as the law of the land. No one should come between a woman and her doctor."
He followed up his Democrats for Hogan announcement with a new video of prominent Democrats praising him compiled from TV and radio reports broadcast in recent years, featuring current Governor Wes Moore, former president Bill Clinton, President Joe Biden, Senator Chris Van Hollen and...Angela Alsobrooks.
"To my Democratic and Independent friends, you know me and you know my proven track record of reaching across the aisle to find common ground for the common good," Hogan said in a statement. "I will continue to be the same strong independent leader for Maryland that I always have been. You know that I have the courage to put people over politics and to put country over party. If you are completely fed up with the divisiveness and dysfunction and want a strong, independent leader who will stand-up and fight to clean up the mess in Washington—then join our cause."
Photos courtesy Hogan for Maryland (top), Alsobrooks for Senate (bottom)
6 comments:
So, ignore the money Hogan channeled to his wife's family for bogus Covid testing kits, and the money he channeled to developers in his public-private partnership for the Purple Line boondoggle? Also, will Hogan actually vote to restore women's access to safe abortions.
Zirkin is hilarious. "I encourage everyone to remember the positives Hogan did (Democratic positions) and ignore all the negatives (Republican positions) and vote for him!" Or we can, uh, just vote for someone who believes in only the positives and NOT also the negatives.
Hogan was great as a moderating force in a deep blue state. But no self-respecting moderate would vote for him as senator and give McConnell/Trump the power to set the country back another 50 years. Hogan is about to lose by 20 points and that's me being generous.
Unfortunately, the way our political system is structured, this race between Alsobrooks and Hogan must be thought of more about party control of the senate than stances on important issues by the individual candidates themselves. Hogan is hoping to lure MD Democrats who may be forgetting that.
On a state or county level, their views and stances are incredibly important and impact their locality/the state immensely. But as a member of the US Senate, winning your state's race for a seat is more about ensuring a majority for your party in the senate than it is your individual views I'd argue. Not how I'd personally have it, but the two-party system doesn't leave much room otherwise.
Hogan today came out at pro-choice, so the options in November are to vote for Pepsi (Alsobrooks), imitation cola (Hogan) or write in an actual Republican like Hogan does for president.
Alsobrooks getting an endorsement from Clinton... a killer endorsement, indeed.
The contentious abortion issue is back to the states, where it belongs.
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