U.S. Senate candidates Angela Alsobrooks and Larry Hogan will face off Thursday in what’s likely to be the only debate in this campaign.
The candidates will record a 60-minute debate at Maryland Public Television in the afternoon to be broadcast later in the evening.
The debate comes exactly two weeks before in-person early voting begins, and less than a month before Election Day. Recent polls show that Alsobrooks, a Democrat, has an advantage over Republican Hogan — though there’s potential for movement as both candidates campaign hard in the final weeks.
The debate will be aired at 7 p.m. on Maryland Public Television, WBAL TV and WBAL Radio in Baltimore and WRC TV in Washington, along with streaming at mpt.org/vote2024. It also will air on C-SPAN at 8 p.m.
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The debate will be moderated by NBC’s Chuck Todd, with questions from panelists Jeff Salkin of MPT, Alexis Taylor from the AFRO newspaper, Deborah Weiner from WBAL-TV and Tracee Wilkins from WRC-TV.
The debate is the only one that the two candidates have agreed to, though there has been some back-and-forth on the matter.
Alsobrooks and Hogan are vying for Maryland’s U.S. Senate seat that is open following longtime Democratic Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin’s announcement that he wouldn’t run for re-election, a race that is more competitive than the state has seen in years. Alsobrooks is in her second term as Prince George’s County executive after also serving as a prosecutor, while Hogan is the popular former two-term governor.
Control of the U.S. Senate is at stake, with Democrats hoping to hold onto their slim 51-49 margin and Republicans hoping to flip enough seats to gain control. While there are tighter Senate races in other states, Maryland is competitive enough that it has drawn national interest and funding, with political action committees flooding airwaves with attack ads.
Hogan is seeking to become the first Republican Maryland has elected to the Senate since Charles Mathias in 1980. Hogan has emphasized that he is the candidate that Marylanders know, and said that he would be a Senate voice independent of party politics.
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Alsobrooks has argued that Hogan would give Republicans control of the U.S. Senate, so no matter what Hogan believes, electing him would help the national Republican Party pass their legislation on abortion, tax cuts or gun control.
Outside groups aiding Hogan have focused on Alsobrooks receiving property tax credits for which she wasn’t eligible. Alsobrooks has said the mistake was inadvertent and has promised to pay the taxes owed.
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