Rep. David Trone has a lot of skin in the game in the Democratic Senate primary race in Maryland where he has vastly outspent his rival, Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks, on campaign ads.
A multimillionaire owner of a wine retailer, Mr. Trone has loaned his campaign a staggering $54 million and funneled $45.7 million of that into political ads, according to AdImpact.
This nonpartisan election tracker says the Democrat has received “no outside support from issue groups.”
Ms. Alsobrooks, meanwhile, has spent $3.9 million on political advertising, with $2 million paid on her behalf by Emily’s List, a group that seeks to elect Democratic female candidates who support abortion rights.
Ms. Alsobrooks is seeking to become the state’s first black female senator.
The winner of Tuesday’s primary between Ms. Alsobrooks and Mr. Trone will advance to the general election in November and is expected to face former Gov. Larry Hogan, the popular Republican whose decision to run instantly gave the race national prominence.
Mr. Hogan is the clear front-runner in the multicandidate contest for the GOP nomination.
Sen. Ben Cardin chose not to seek reelection, opening the seat, which Democrats must defend to protect their slim Senate majority.
Despite the disparity in ad spending between the Democrats, Ms. Alsobrooks has closed strongly in the polls.
An Emerson College poll released this week shows Ms. Alsobrooks is the preferred pick of 42% of voters compared with 41% for Mr. Trone. The remaining 12% were undecided.
Ms. Alsobrooks’ support has jumped 25 points since February, while Mr. Trone’s support is up 9 points.
Ms. Alsobrooks led by 5 points among women and 28 points among Black voters. Mr. Trone was ahead among men by 4 points and White voters by 13.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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