For months, Democratic Rep. David Trone has blanketed Maryland airwaves with ads for his Senate campaign. Now, with the primary coming to a close, Trone is facing some pushback in a new ad campaign from a group supporting his main rival, Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks.
The question for Alsobrooks is whether the new effort will make a difference.
Women Vote!, a super PAC linked to EMILY’s List that supports Democratic women who support abortion rights, launched an attack against Trone over the weekend, just 10 days before Tuesday’s state primary. It’s the first outside group to get involved on Alsobrooks’ behalf on the airwaves, as she’s been inundated by the massive spending advantage Trone has built using her vast personal fortune.
While Alsobrooks’ allies welcomed the aid, some lamented that it did not arrive sooner. Trone’s seemingly bottomless wallet, donors’ prioritization of big-ticket battlegrounds over blue state primaries, general fatigue among big political contributors, and the prospect of an expensive November general election in Maryland are just some of the possible reasons why other pro-Alsobrooks groups haven’t spent in the race so far.
“I think it’s a shame she couldn’t achieve more,” said Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., a former House majority leader who supported Alsobrooks. “I think she’s the strongest candidate we have.”
Stefanie Brown James, co-founder and executive director of Collective PAC, which supports black candidates and supports Alsobrooks, said: “It was definitely not ideal that it took so long for the resources to arrive to go live. But now that it has happened, I think it will make a tremendous difference.”
On the radio waves
EMILY’s List decided to spend with Alsobrooks almost a full year after her first announced that he was putting all his weight behind.
The group has to switch off statements criticizing Trone and celebrated Alsobrooks in a high profile EMILY’S List Events, which could be useful for candidates looking to raise money. The group also supported Alsobrooks with staffing, fundraising, candidate mentoring and polling and polling expertise, said an EMILY’s List source who was granted anonymity to discuss internal efforts.
But his affiliated super PAC didn’t spend a dime on the race until less than two weeks before the primary.
Last weekend, Women Vote! launched a $2 million ad buy that emphasized an attack Alsobrooks used to criticize Trone – linking donations from him and his company for Republicans like Texas Governor Greg Abbott. Trone defended donations as a way to protect employees as the company does business in red states.
“David Trone and his companies donated half a million dollars to extreme Republicans and MAGA to win their elections,” a narrator says in the new ad. “David Trone cares more about his bottom line than our rights.”
Alsobrooks told NBC News at a rally Saturday with Ellen Malcolm, founder of EMILY’s List, that it “meant everything” to have the group’s support and emphasized that “we need financial resources to ensure that we are able to continue to communicate in this race.” ”
Trone’s campaign responded to the ad by highlighting her “unblemished record on reproductive rights.” Trone spokesperson Onotse Omoyeni said in a statement that “a conservative donor is using this super PAC to meddle in our Democratic primary,” citing a $500,000 donation to EMILY’s List-aligned super PAC from a donor who has given significant amounts to Republicans as well as Democrats and anti-Trump Republican groups.
The Trone campaign is running your own response adclaiming that Alsobrooks was responsible for the group’s publicity and criticizing her for taking money from lobbyists.
It’s too late?
It remains to be seen whether the spending will be enough to help Alsobrooks overtake Trone in Tuesday’s primary.
Former Democratic Rep. Donna Edwards, an NBC News contributor who lost her party’s last competitive Senate primary in Maryland in 2016, said that while it’s possible money could move the needle, “last-minute” spending on votes missing messages have already been sent may have limited impact.
“It seems a little late to change hearts and minds, and the tenor of the purchase, in terms of how negative it is – it’s being so difficult against a candidate who has a record of 100% abortion rights – seems to me not to be the argument more effective,” she said.
In 2016, Edwards lost the primary to then-Rep. Chris Van Hollen, despite help from EMILY’s List. Women Vote! was a consistent presence on the airwaves for her, spending nearly $3 million starting at the end of 2015.
Another group — Working for the US PAC, which was funded primarily by EMILY’s List and one of its major donors – it spent an additional $1.7 million supporting her in ads and various get-out-the-vote programs. The spending helped close the gap between Edwards and Van Hollen, who significantly surpassed it.
But although Edwards was outraged, the difference between Alsobrooks and Trone is significantly greater. Trone loaned her campaign more than $57 million (including more than $3 million in the final weeks of the primary) and outspent her by more than 9 to 1.
That kind of money, one of the largest congressional self-financing efforts in history, could have frightened Alsobrooks’ supporters, intimidated by a seemingly unlimited supply of money from his main opponent.
“The expectation that this man would have spent this amount of his personal wealth — the groups would have been able to match that,” said Glynda Carr of Higher Heights, a group that supports black female candidates and has endorsed Alsobrooks.
“You don’t have to match him,” countered one Democratic strategist, who noted that even some spending by outside groups early in the race could have helped boost Alsobrooks’ name recognition in key areas outside his suburban base. Washington, like Baltimore.
In a year when Democrats face costly races across the country to defend their Senate majority, it can be difficult to engage donors in a primary race, especially in a blue state. But Democrats may not be able to take Maryland for granted this fall if former Gov. Larry Hogan wins the Republican primary, giving Republicans a top recruit who has already been elected statewide.
Brown James of the Collective PAC, which raised money for Alsobrooks, suggested that Hogan’s candidacy could have dissuaded donors from getting involved in the primary because they will likely also have to direct resources toward a general election fight in Maryland.
She also said fundraising in general has been slow, with donors often tired and keeping their eyes on other priorities.
But both Brown James and Carr said money isn’t everything, pointing to Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass’ 2022 victory against a wealthy candidate who flooded her airwaves.
They also noted that Black women, especially those running for statewide office, have historically struggled with fundraising, but Alsobrooks had big numbers. It raised $7.8 million as of April 24.
Carr said Alsobrooks eliminated some traditional obstacles for black women candidates in fundraising and obtaining early, high-profile endorsements. But Trone’s vast wealth presented yet another obstacle.
“The question here is, if all things were equal from a financial standpoint, what would this race be like?” Carr said.
This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com read the full story
