David Trone offered his support for Angela Alsobrooks on Thursday in her quest to hold Maryland’s open U.S. Senate seat in Democratic hands, but it remains unclear whether that support will involve any of his personal wealth.
After the Maryland Democratic Party unity event in Greenbelt, Trone — a congressman who spent at least $60 million of his own money on an unsuccessful primary bid — was ushered away, blowing past reporters with questions about his support.
Trone indicated he was headed back to Capitol Hill for work with the House Appropriations Committee.
“We’re appropriating markup today,” Trone said as staffers led him out of the banquet hall.
Trone was among a couple hundred party leaders and party faithful who professed unity in their battle against Republicans this election.
At the top of their agenda is electing Alsobrooks, currently the Prince George’s County executive, to the U.S. Senate over the Republican candidate, former Gov. Larry Hogan.
Alsobrooks and Trone competed in a hard-fought primary campaign for a year, but both took to the stage to profess that they’d set aside their differences.
Trone walked up to the podium to the spiritual song “Kumbaya,” which is often taken to symbolize compromise or a coming together. It took the crowd a few moments to recognize the tune, and they chuckled when they understood.
“I thought you’d appreciate a little song,” Trone joked.
In his remarks, Trone first mentioned the goal of electing Democrat April McClain-Delaney to fill his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, which stretches from Western Maryland to Montgomery County. Then he talked about the need to ensure Democrats have the majority in Congress.
And after that, Trone heaped praise on his former foe Alsobrooks, saying she’s the right candidate to beat Hogan.
“We must unite behind Angela Alsobrooks to be our next U.S. senator,” Trone said to cheers and prolonged applause. “Angela has my full endorsement!”
Trone made no mention in his speech as to whether he’d help bankroll the efforts to elect Alsobrooks or Democrats broadly.
It’s unclear exactly how wealthy Trone is from his work founding and building the Total Wine & More liquor store chain, which Forbes Magazine reported in 2017 as having roughly $3 billion in revenue. Trone has sunk tens of millions of dollars of his own money into this year’s Senate race and prior House races.
Alsobrooks — who had called out Trone’s massive self-funding as a negative during the primary campaign — publicly thanked Trone for his support. She acknowledged how tough the campaign trail has been for the past year, and called him a “tremendous statesman” with dignity and integrity.
“Congressman Trone is one hell of a campaigner, he ran a tremendous campaign,” she said.
