Maryland’s hotly contested Senate race is deadlocked, despite Vice President Kamala Harris’ massive lead over former President Donald Trump in the deep blue state.
Senate Republicans believe they have a path to flip the upper chamber in November that runs through Montana, and Maryland could add to their hand of crucial seats in play. But the state hasn’t had a Republican senator since the late 1980s, and all but one of its eight seats in the House are controlled by Democrats.
Still, a tie between Democratic Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks and Republican former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan could bode well in the GOP’s quest to fill retiring Sen. Ben Cardin’s seat.
Ms. Alsobrooks and Mr. Hogans are tied at 46%, with 8% of voters undecided or wanting to vote for someone else in the latest survey from AARP.
The poll, which was published Tuesday, found Mr. Hogan making the race competitive by capturing more independent voters than Ms. Alsobrooks, 55%-32%, and a quarter of surveyed Democratic voters.
Mr. Hogan’s performance could be attributed to his popularity as a centrist governor and his push to distance himself from Mr. Trump, who endorsed his Senate bid this summer. Indeed, Mr. Hogan’s favorability among voters is much higher, 59%, than that of Ms. Alsobrooks, 41%.
Democratic voters also have a favorable view of the former governor, with 57% liking him while 58% see Ms. Alsobrooks in the same light. Part of Mr. Hogan’s favorability rating could be driven by his name recognition in the state — 26% of surveyed voters had never heard of Ms. Alsobrooks.
The survey was conducted by the GOP-leaning polling team Fabrizio Ward and the Democratic-leaning polling team Impact Research from Aug. 14-20 and included responses from 1,258 voters.
Meanwhile, Ms. Harris held a commanding 30-point lead over Mr. Trump when third-party candidates were factored in. Green Party candidate Jill Stein and Libertarian candidate Chase Oliver each drew 1% of support, while independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. siphoned away 5% of voters.
Mr. Kennedy suspended his campaign last week and endorsed Mr. Trump, vowing to remove his name from the ballot in battleground states. But his name will still appear in the predominantly red and blue states he qualified for, like Maryland.
When third-party candidates were factored out, Ms. Harris’ lead grew to 32 points.
• Alex Miller can be reached at amiller@washingtontimes.com.
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