Residents at Riderwood Senior Living in Silver Spring greeted Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks, the Democratic nominee for Maryland’s open U.S. Senate seat, with cheers and applause Thursday afternoon at an event in the community’s Encore Theater.
The majority of the 75 or so people attending the event hosted by the Riderwood Democratic Club appeared to be supporters of Alsobrooks, with many sporting campaign buttons and stickers. Alsobrooks is facing former Republican Gov. Larry Hogan in the Nov. 5 general election.
The hotly contested race is coming down to the wire, as supporters pour millions of dollars into the race and recent polls have shown “a small and durable lead for Alsobrooks — but nothing insurmountable, as Hogan remains better known and still is popular after eight years as governor,” according to Maryland Matters.
At Riderwood, Alsobrooks focused many of her remarks on health care access. She shared a personal story of her father struggling to affordably access a particular heart medication.
“That is the reason I will fight to cap the out-of-pocket costs of prescription drug medications,” Alsobrooks said. “We also need to make sure that we’re not only preserving and continuing to fund Medicare but making sure that we are also preserving Social Security.”
Alsobrooks was asked about recent campaign ads from the Hogan campaign that highlight published reports stating that she improperly benefited from tax credits on two properties she previously owned. The Washington Post reported that Alsobrooks has agreed to pay the back taxes.
“I have never not paid my taxes. But my grandmother needed to leave her home, and she moved in with my parents, and when she did that, I took over her mortgage, and I paid her mortgage until I sold the house about six years ago,” Alsobrooks said. “But I never knew that she was receiving a discount. She had a credit on her house. I didn’t know about it.”
Alsobrooks said she has paid off the debt, and that she is frustrated with the Hogan campaign for focusing on the issue rather than policy.
“The ads have been misleading,” she said. “The attack ads have become so desperate and so outrageous.”
When asked how she’d address the issue of the growing partisan divides if elected, Alsobrooks said she would prioritize reaching across the aisle and working with Republicans, including having lunch with fellow members of committees that she could be assigned to.
“I will be there representing 6 million people who will be relying on me to make good decisions for them, and those decisions will require me to go there and to find people who will work with me to accomplish the agenda that we’ve set,” Alsobrooks said.
After the event, Riderwood Resident Betty McGarvie Crowley told MoCo360 she’s been a longtime supporter of Alsobrooks and thinks she’s “particularly competent and in touch with what people want.” She said she believes Alsobrooks would do a good job of working against partisan divides.
“I’m most concerned that we need to preserve democracy,” Crowley said. “If we don’t have that, we can’t do anything else.”
Fellow resident Maria Reed expressed similar sentiments. “I’m voting for her because the democracy of this country is going to hell in a handbasket,” she said.
Reed noted that as someone whose has family members in law enforcement, she has appreciated Alsobrooks’ support of police.
“I think she’s honest and straightforward, and that’s hard to find in a politician,” Reed said.
For more information about the candidates, check out the MoCo360 2024 Voters Guide.
