As the May 14 primary election nears, U.S. Rep. David Trone of Potomac continues to pour his personal fortune into his candidacy for a Senate seat–writing his campaign a check for another $3.15 million last week, according to a new disclosure filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
The most recent comprehensive report filed by the Trone campaign, covering the period from April 1 to 24, had shown Trone directing $54.12 million in personal funds to his campaign since announcing his candidacy a year ago to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Baltimore).
However, in a subsequent disclosure form published on the FEC website late last week, Trone–who has vowed to spend “what it takes” to win the race–revealed he had added the $3.15 million on April 29. It brings the total amount of his self-funding to $57.25 million in his bid for the Democratic nomination against Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks.
The disclosure came in a so-called 48-hour report: Although Alsobrooks and Trone will not be required to file their next comprehensive campaign finance reports with the FEC until a couple of months after next week’s primary, federal election law mandates that–between April 25 and May 11, three days before the primary–they must disclose contributions of $1,000 or more to their campaigns within 48 hours of receipt.
The latest self-donation by Trone–founder and co-owner of Total Wine & More, a nationwide chain of alcohol beverage outlets–brings him closer to the all-time record for a self-funding Senate candidate: $63.57 million, set by now-Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott in his 2018 race. However, Scott’s funding covered both the primary and general election that year, while Trone has spent nearly that much in the primary alone. And Scott’s level of spending came in a state with a population well over three times that of Maryland.
The FEC pre-primary report covering three and a half weeks in April showed Trone spending $9.77 million in that stretch alone–$4 million more than the total of $5.72 million in spending by Alsobrooks since she announced in May 2023. All told, Trone reported spending close to $51.7 million in the course of the campaign as of the April 24 cutoff for the pre-primary report, with nearly three weeks to go until Primary Day.
The financial gap between the two leading contenders for the Democratic nomination is underscored by an examination of what they have reported spending on efforts to get their names and messages out to the primary electorate, who are now going to the polls during early voting as well as casting mail ballots. Early voting ends Thursday.
During just the April period covered by recent pre-primary report, Trone spent nearly $6 million on television advertising–including $5.67 million to buy time on over-the-air and cable TV channels, as well as $313,000 paid to Siegel Strategies, the New York-based media production firm that Trone regularly uses.
Trone–whose lead in recent independent polling is widely attributed to his visibility from the statewide TV blitz that he launched last fall and has kept on the air since–also spent more than $9.2 million on television in the first three months of 2024, with another $6.7 million coming earlier, during the final quarter of 2023. All told, his campaign reported spending nearly $22 million on TV advertising as of late April–translating into more than 40% of total campaign expenditures to date.
Alsobrooks did not begin advertising until mid-February on Baltimore television stations, and her TV ad campaign did not reach the pricier Washington, D.C., market until last month. Recent FEC reports indicate that she has spent a total of approximately $2.5 million to air TV ads–slightly more than 10% of the amount spent by Trone, with $1.62 million of Alsobrooks’ spending coming in April, on top of about $865,000 during the first quarter of the year. Those figures don’t include another $125,000 for media production with the Alexandria, Va.-based firm of Magnus Pearson.
Meanwhile, the Trone campaign reported spending about $1.35 million in April with two firms– Washington, D.C.-based Gambit Strategies and Liftoff Campaigns in Silver Spring—for digital advertising and related consulting services. It spent more than $4.7 million in this category during the first quarter of the year, for a total of $6 million since Jan. 1.
In contrast, the Alsobrooks campaign spent about $200,000 on virtual outreach during this period with two D.C.-based firms, BreakSomething and Wavelength Strategy. About $165,000 in expenditures on online ads, text messaging and digital consulting were reported in the report filed for the first quarter of 2024, with another $40,000 spent for this purpose in April.
The disparity in the two campaigns’ direct mail effort was equally striking. The only direct mail expenditure reported by the Alsobrooks campaign since the beginning of the year was a $22,400 payment to EMILY’s List, a political action committee that has endorsed Alsobrooks.
EMILY’s List–which backs Democratic women candidates who support abortion rights–has repeatedly criticized Trone and his company for past donations to Republican candidates opposed to abortion in states where Total Wine & More has done business.
The Trone campaign has paid more than $1.23 million since Jan. 1 to the Philadelphia-area direct mail firm of AMS Communications. During this period, more than a dozen glossy fliers have been targeted to Democratic voters–the latest of which landed in mailboxes this weekend and reflects the increasingly sharp tone of the Alsobrooks-Trone race in recent weeks.
“Trone Will Beat Larry Hogan, Alsobrooks Will Lose,” the headline of the flier declares, alluding to popular former Gov. Larry Hogan–who is expected to emerge from the May 14 primary with the Republican nomination.
While Trone appears to have a continuing ability to write checks to himself–as illustrated by last week’s additional $3.15 million–the Alsobrooks campaign, which has relied entirely on outside donors, could face financial challenges in the closing days of the primary contest.
Under federal election law and subsequent court decisions, Trone and other self-funding candidates can spend as much as they choose on their own campaigns–but outside individual donors and advocacy groups are limited in what they can contribute to a candidate’s campaign committee. At present, the inflation-indexed limit for individual donors is $3,300 per election.
However, a significant number of individual donors to Alsobrooks have “maxed out”–giving more than the $3,300 limit, with some contributing the $6,600 maximum that an outside individual is permitted to donate during an entire election cycle, including both the primary and general election. Candidates such as Alsobrooks are allowed to keep contributions in excess of $3,300 up to the $6,600 maximum, but donations in this category must be cordoned off and can be used only if she wins the primary and advances to the general election.
Such “maxed out” contributions accounted for only about 4% (about $26,700) of the receipts that the Alsobrooks campaign reported in April, but represented closer to 9% (approximately $188,000) of what was taken in during the first quarter of the year. These donations comprised an even larger percentage of what Alsobrooks raised in 2023, totaling $713,000 over nearly eight months.
All told, these general election-only funds, totaling $927,000, appear to represent close to half of the $1.91 million that the Alsobrooks campaign reported having in its treasury as of April 24–leaving the campaign to rely on the remaining approximately $1 million in available funds, and whatever additional donations it can raise in the campaign’s homestretch.
