Scoop: MoveOn throws weight behind Alsobrooks' Senate bid in Maryland
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Angela Alsobrooks outside a voting station on primary day, May 14, in Burtonsville, Maryland. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
MoveOn, a top progressive organization, is backing Maryland Democrat Angela Alsobrooks in a bid to protect a blue Senate seat, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: The Republican candidate, former Gov. Larry Hogan, has made the race surprisingly competitive. Funding and other assistance from national groups could be key to Democrats holding the seat.
- Alsobrooks is just the second Senate candidate that MoveOn has endorsed, and it's the first major shift in the 2024 races the organization is targeting.
- The endorsement will give Alsobrooks support from MoveOn's PAC, which has raised nearly $26.5 million so far this election cycle, according to federal filings.
The big picture: An Alsobrooks victory in November is critical for Democrats, with the party fighting to protect a number of vulnerable incumbents and its slim Senate majority.
- Alsobrooks is one of just a few lawmakers who have nabbed MoveOn endorsements this year. The group has also backed Rep. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) in his Senate bid and Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.) amid a pro-Israel primary challenge to her re-election bid.
- Alsobrooks emerged from a bitter Democratic primary in the state. She defeated Rep. David Trone (D-Md.), a more moderate Democrat, after he spent over $60 million of his own money on the race.
Between the lines: The Alsobrooks endorsement was decided by a vote of MoveOn members in Maryland, of which there are over 150,000.
- MoveOn will provide fundraising, campaigning and voter outreach support, a spokesperson from the organization told Axios.
Context: Hogan is a former governor who built a moderate brand by criticizing Trump and casting himself as independent from the national GOP during his eight years in office.
- His recruitment into the race was a victory for Republicans. His name recognition immediately made the race competitive in a state where President Biden trounced former President Trump by more than 30 percentage points four years ago.
- Hogan, whose campaign declined to comment on the MoveOn endorsement, is holding his own endorsement event on the boardwalk in Ocean City, Md., on Wednesday with firefighter and paramedic unions.
What they're saying: Alsobrooks said in a statement to Axios that she is "glad to have MoveOn and its strong base of grassroots members alongside me in this fight."
- "We know what's at stake in Maryland — the Senate majority," she said.
- Britt Jacovich, a spokesperson for MoveOn, told Axios the group endorsed Alsobrooks to "keep the Supreme Court from going further to the far-right, to protect our freedoms and our democracy and to stop a national abortion ban."
