Democratic U.S. Senate candidates Angela Alsobrooks and David Trone fiercely challenged each other’s records on fundraising, endorsements and political contributions during a packed forum Thursday night at Leisure World in Silver Spring.
More than 200 people attended the forum at the senior living community and another 200 watched via Zoom livestream as the two frontrunners for the Democratic nomination in the race to succeed Sen. Ben Cardin (D) parried questions from moderators and the audience. The 90-minute event was hosted by the Democratic Club of Leisure World and moderated by MoCo360’s Lou Peck and Washington Post reporter Erin Cox.
Alsobrooks, the Prince George’s County executive, and Trone, who represents District 6 in the House of Representatives, tried to position themselves as the best choice to beat the presumptive Republican nominee, former Gov. Larry Hogan. The two are among several candidates vying for the Democratic nomination in the May 14 primary election.
When asked about a recent Washington Post poll that shows Hogan leading among both Democratic and Republican candidates, Alsobrooks touted her endorsements from Gov. Wes Moore (D), U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Dist. 8) of Takoma Park and U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) of Kensington.
“Despite the $39 million that Mr. Trone put into his campaign, we are in a dead heat, holding one point divided between two of us,” Alsobrooks said, referencing the Post poll. “What this means for me is that Marylanders will make this decision based on the best experience.”
Despite his current role in Congress, Trone, a multimillionaire businessman, defended his self-funded campaign and pitched himself as an outsider, saying that’s why he hasn’t received the high-profile endorsements that Alsobrooks has.
“I’m not in the club,” Trone said. “The career politicians, they all hang together, they endorse each other. They go to the same fundraisers. They take the same money from all the PACS of all the lobbyists to all the special interests.”
Alsobrooks said abortion rights and access are a key issue in this race, noting that Hogan has commented that the topic of abortion is an “emotional” issue for women.
“We do not need help with our emotions. What we need is freedom and privacy to make our own decisions,” she said. “It’s also important to mention that I would be the second woman ever elected to the U.S. Senate in Maryland … all 10 of our federal representatives are men.”
She challenged donations that Trone’s company, Total Wine & More, that he co-owns with his brother, has made to Republican politicians who oppose abortion rights.
“I left the company in 2016 as CEO, and since then have had no involvement in the day-to-day operations of the company. It’s required by law,” Trone said. “The company … they have what they have to do. I have to do what I have to do.”
Trone touted a “perfect” record from Planned Parenthood and referenced his part in underwriting an abortion clinic in Western Maryland.
When asked about her involvement as county executive with securing abortion access for Prince George’s County residents, Alsobrooks said her work has focused more on overall health and wellness for constituents. She mentioned her investments in health care for the uninsured.
“I’ve prioritized mental health care for our kids and we prioritize health care across the board,” Alsobrooks said. “I have to tell you that Prince George’s County and Montgomery County do not have the same budget.”
After a fiery start, the candidates settled into a more calm discussion, voicing similar viewpoints on several hot topics.
Discussing foreign policy, both Democrats shared largely similar views on the Israel-Hamas War. The candidates called for the elimination of Hamas and release of the hostages along with a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza.
“The United States and every other body across the world has an obligation to do what they can to stop the humanitarian suffering that is happening in Gaza,” Alsobrooks said.
Trone shared similar views.
“I’m a big supporter of Israel. Everyone knows that I’ve always been a big supporter of Israel,” Trone said. “That being said, I called early on for a ceasefire with the full release of the hostages. … We’ve got to help rebuild Gaza.”
When asked what his first action would be in office if elected, Trone said he would focus on addressing drug overdoses and suicide as the two biggest issues to tackle.
“My nephew died in 2016 on New Year’s Eve. He was from Montgomery County, he went to Winston Churchill [High School in Potomac]. But at the end of the day he could cite the demons that all of us that struggle with–these diseases, addiction, alcoholism,” Trone said. “We need to start to pull together as a country, and this is where we find common ground.”
Alsobrooks said her first action would be to co-sponsor the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would protect reproductive health care access.
“It’s absolutely unbelievable to me that 51 years later, you’re expecting my daughter to fight a fight that should have been won by her grandmother,” Alsobrooks said. “There’s so many young women that are looking out now, asking us, what are we going to do?”
Alsobrooks said she’d also fight to defend the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and support eliminating the filibuster.
When asked how he’d work to pass a bipartisan immigration bill, Trone said immigrants are “some of the best Americans there are,” noting that the six construction workers who died in the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge on Tuesday were immigrants.
“Immigrants create jobs … that diversity of immigrants is what makes our country so unbelievable. That diversity is our success right there, creating the jobs at Apple, eBay, Google,” Trone said. “We need to have embassies and consulates in the countries … they can’t go to Mexico and walk 1,000 miles and be prey to the cartels. We need in-country immigration and they get a yes or no in the country from an American judge.”
Alsobrooks pointed to her record supporting the DREAM Act, which would grant lawful residency to people who were brought into the country illegally as minors, and testifying for undocumented residents to be eligible for driver’s licenses.
“Legal immigration is really important to the health and wellbeing of our country,” Alsobrooks said. “[We need] to have a more expedited process around asylum… also positions for border patrol, they’re very short of resources … and I think we need a rigid path to citizenship for immigrants who are already in our country.”
When it comes to addressing the affordable housing crisis, Trone said the issue ties back to immigration because of the need to have enough workers to build housing.
“We have to be across the board on immigration. We’re gonna all of a sudden have competitive housing, where developers have to compete with each other,” Trone said. “That competition is what drives prices down and drives quality up.”
Alsobrooks said it’s important to create pathways to homeownership for constituents of all income levels and cited her work to preserve affordable housing in Prince George’s County. She mentioned a program pitched by President Joe Biden (D) during his 2024 State of the Union address that would create a fund for young people to acquire homes.
“These are the kinds of programs I will be looking for … to bring back those funds to Maryland, and then I will work with our state officials and with our local officials to make sure that you’re getting that funding into our communities and creating more opportunity to own homes,” Alsobrooks said.