This story, originally published at 10:58 a.m. Feb. 1, 2024, was updated at 9:20 p.m. Feb. 5, 2024, to remove the E. from John Teichert’s name and to clarify that Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks raised barely 20% of the $23.7 million in receipts reported so far by U.S. Rep. David Trone’s campaign, rather than just the latest quarter.
U.S. Rep. David Trone—a multimillionaire Potomac Democrat who has vowed to spend “what it takes” to win an open U.S. Senate seat this year—poured another $13.5 million of his own assets into the contest during the final three months of 2023, according to campaign disclosure reports filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) late Wednesday.
Trone—co-owner of Total Wine & More, a national chain of alcohol beverage retail outlets—has now reached into his own pocket for nearly $23.3 million to date in his primary bid for the Senate seat now held by Baltimore Democrat Ben Cardin, who is retiring.
His principal opponent, Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks, latest FEC report shows her taking in slightly more than $5 million since her campaign was launched last May: That’s barely 20% of the $23.7 million in receipts reported so far by the Trone campaign, which also launched last May.
The latest FEC reports cover the period from Oct. 1 through Dec. 31 of last year, shortly after the late September start of a media advertising blitz that the Trone campaign has since been running on TV outlets around the state, including broadcast stations in the Baltimore and Washington markets.
Trone, who has represented the western Maryland 6th Congressional District since 2018, has sidestepped public questions about how much he is prepared to spend in his Senate campaign. But Trone has reportedly vowed to put in upwards of $40 million of his own money, and, with the primary election scheduled for May 14, he appears to be on pace to meet that mark.
The winner of the Democratic Senate primary will go into the November election as a heavy favorite in a state in which Democrats hold a 2-1 edge in voter registration. John Teichert, a retired Air Force brigadier general, widely regarded as the frontrunner for the Republican nomination, filed his first disclosure report Wednesday since announcing his candidacy in October; Teichert reported raising slightly more than $304,000.
While only a small fraction of Trone’s campaign funds—nearly $220,000 during the fourth quarter of last year—came from outside contributions, Alsobrooks’ campaign is relying almost entirely on such donations. Her latest FEC report shows her taking in approximately $1.78 million during the fourth quarter of 2023.
The Alsobrooks campaign—in a filing Wednesday that covers more than 1,500 pages—reported having about $3.12 million in its treasury as of Dec. 31, with about four and a half months to go until the primary.
However, it appears that a significant portion of those funds cannot be spent unless Alsobrooks wins the primary and competes in the general election. That’s because numerous Alsobrooks donors to date have exceeded the $3,300 per election federal contribution for the primary campaign. About 20% of the funds that Alsobrooks raised during the first six months of her campaign can be used only if she makes it to the November election.
The Trone campaign reported $455,000 on hand, indicating that an additional infusion of personal funds would likely be needed soon to sustain his massive TV and online advertising effort.
The personal funds that Trone has directed to his campaign are labeled as loans, allowing them to be paid back if future fundraising allows. However, as a practical matter, loans made to a campaign by the candidate are rarely repaid, and are ultimately written off as contributions.
This is particularly true in the case of Trone, given that his refusal to accept donations from political action committees and lobbyists—which he has highlighted during this campaign—makes him largely reliant on his personal assets.
The Alsobrooks campaign reported spending $730,000 during the fourth quarter of 2023, and nearly $1.87 million to date, in contrast to nearly $13.7 million spent by the Trone campaign during the final three months of last year and approximately $23.8 million overall.
Although there have been no independent polls of the primary race published to date, numbers from an internal Trone campaign poll released Wednesday—hours before Trone filed his FEC disclosure report—provide some evidence that Trone’s non-stop TV advertising effort is having an impact. The Alsobrooks campaign has yet to begin airing TV ads.
The survey, conducted by Trone’s long-time pollster, Hickman Analytics, showed Trone with a lead of 45%-34% among 1,500 likely Democratic primary voters conducted Jan. 18 through Jan. 24. The poll has a 2.5-point margin of error, which places Trone’s outside the error margin.
A similar poll conducted two months ago, also by Hickman Analytics, showed Trone ahead by 41%-35%, but with an error margin indicating the race could be a statistical tie.
On the Republican side of the Senate race, Teichert, an Anne Arundel County resident, reported spending nearly $82,600 since launching his candidacy in early fall, with $221,000 remaining in his treasury. Teichert reported putting $5,500 of his own money into his campaign.
One of Teichert’s opponents for the Republican nomination, Robin Ficker of Boyds, reported loaning his campaign nearly $2.43 million, while raising just $216 in outside donations.
Ficker, a real estate broker and disbarred attorney, is making his 22nd run for elected office, while winning just once—for a seat in the House of Delegates in 1978. Ficker reported spending $259,000, the majority of it on TV and digital ads, and had about $2.17 million left in his campaign treasury as of Dec. 31.
This story will be updated.
Contributing Editor Louis Peck (lou.peck@moco360.media) has covered and supervised coverage of government and politics at the national, state and local level for the past five decades.