Angela Alsobrooks is running a groundbreaking campaign in Maryland’s U.S. Senate race and poised to make history as the state’s first Black U.S. Senator if elected. With a distinguished background in public service—serving as Prince George’s County State’s Attorney for eight years before being elected twice as County Executive—Alsobrooks is now aiming to bring her experience to Congress, where she would be among the few Black women ever to serve.
The latest poll from The Washington Post and the University of Maryland’s Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement (CDCE) shows her with a strong double-digit lead over her Republican opponent, former Governor Larry Hogan. In October, Alsobrooks was polling at 52% among likely voters, compared to Hogan’s 40%, with Libertarian candidate Mike Scott trailing at 4%. Despite Hogan’s intensive ad campaigns, Alsobrooks’s lead has held steady since September. “The overall margin is about the same,” said CDCE Director Michael Hanmer, as both parties focus on swaying undecided voters in this high-stakes race.
This race could decide party control in the U.S. Senate, making issues like abortion and economic policy more pivotal than ever. While more Maryland voters currently see Hogan as a stronger candidate on economic issues, Alsobrooks has a substantial lead on healthcare and reproductive rights, topics that resonate widely with her base. CDCE data suggests her messaging about the Senate’s role in safeguarding reproductive rights has struck a chord with many Maryland voters—a sentiment Hogan has struggled to counter effectively, according to analysts.
Alsobrooks’s campaign carries historic significance: if elected, she would become Maryland’s first Black woman senator and one of only a few Black women to serve in the Senate’s 235-year history. “People like me don’t make it to the Senate, but we should,” Alsobrooks emphasized in her address at the Democratic National Convention in August, calling attention to the systemic barriers Black women face in reaching high political office. “We’ve only elected two [Black women] to the Senate and only had three serve so far, so it was a joy to go out on that stage and represent people so many people whose voices I believe have been underrepresented in the Senate. And it was a great moment,” she told ESSENCE about her speech.
The historical context is significant: Carol Moseley Braun was the first Black woman elected to the Senate in 1992, followed by Kamala Harris in 2016. In 2023, California’s Laphonza Butler became the third Black woman in the Senate appointed to complete Dianne Feinstein’s term, though she does not intend to run for a full term. If Alsobrooks is successful, she could join Delaware’s Lisa Blunt Rochester, who is also running for Senate, and together they could potentially reshape the Senate with a historic level of Black female representation.
Alsobooks told ESSENCE that her journey to public service was partly inspired by Kamala Harris, then a district attorney in San Francisco, who she first read about in an Essence article in 2009. “I read a story in Essence magazine about a district attorney using new ideas to keep her community safe,” Alsobrooks recalled. Inspired, she began incorporating restorative justice principles into her own work, seeking ways to reimagine criminal justice and broaden access to opportunity.
From economic opportunity to healthcare access, Alsobrooks says she sees her candidacy as a means to enact meaningful change. Her platform focuses on expanding reproductive rights, healthcare access, and educational resources for Marylanders. Alsobrooks also supports comprehensive immigration reform, including a pathway to citizenship, and has been openly critical of the Trump-era tax cuts, calling for higher corporate tax rates to fund programs for working families instead of corporate interests.
The stakes remain high for Alsobrooks as she campaigns to represent Maryland and amplify the voices of its diverse communities in the Senate. Marylanders will soon make their decision on November 5th, setting the course for the state’s future in Washington.