Kamala Harris is widely expected to win traditionally blue Maryland, but its a tougher race for the state's open U.S. Senate seat. The Democratic candidate, Angela Alsobrooks, is a longtime protege of the vice president, and is largely running her campaign on the same issues.
"A lot of her values align, I think, with Maryland's values," Alsobrooks told Scripps News Thursday in Baltimore.
Like Harris, protecting abortion rights has been a key part of her campaign, and Alsobrooks has indicated her support to eliminate the filibuster to codify Roe V. Wade. But, in a state most analysts believe will go for Harris by a wide margin, Alsobrooks is significantly underperforming compared to the Vice President in the latest statewide polling.
According to a late September poll from the University of Maryland Baltimore County's Insitute of Politics, Harris appears to be winning Maryland over former President Donald Trump by over 20 points.
Alsobrooks is leading former Republican Governor Larry Hogan, but only by single digits.
Alsobrooks attributes this to her challenger's high name ID, after he served as one of the nations most popular governors for eight years.
"What we consistently see is that as people hear more about my own record and about my message, they are supporting me," Alsobrooks told Scripps News.
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In the closing days of the 2024 campaign, polls show a growing chance that Republicans will retake control of the Senate, and Democrats are in an all-out sprint to shore up support.
Senator Chris Murphy, of Connecticut, is the third Democratic senator to stump with Alsobrooks this week.
There are a number of different pathways with which Democrats can hold, and potentially expand, their majority," Murphy told Scripps News. "Listen, people counted us out, as Democrats in the Senate, in 2020 [and] 2022."
"We've won a majority, we expanded our majority, and I think we'll do the same thing again in this election day," Murphy said.
