Black Women in Politics: Angela Alsobrooks Leads in Polls, Seeks to Make History in Maryland Senate Election – Bottom Line

Angela Alsobrooks is running a groundbreaking campaign in the U.S. Senate race in Maryland and is poised to make history as the first black U.S. senator if elected. With a distinguished record of public service – serving as Prince George’s County Prosecutor for eight years and then twice elected to the position of County Executive –Alsobrooks now intends to bring her experience to Congress, where she will be among the few black women to ever serve.

Latest poll from Washington Post and University of Maryland Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement (CDCE) shows her with a strong double-digit lead over her Republican opponent, former Gov. Larry Hogan. In October, Alsobrooks had 52% among likely voters compared to Hogan’s 40%, with Libertarian candidate Mike Scott trailing at 4%. Despite Hogan’s intense promotional efforts, Alsobrooks’ lead has remained stable since September. “The overall difference is about the same,” said CDCE Director Michael Hanmer, as both parties focus on swaying swing voters in this high-stakes race.

The race could decide party control of the U.S. Senate, making issues like abortion and economic policy more important than ever. While more Maryland voters now view Hogan as the stronger candidate on economic issues, Alsobrooks has a significant advantage on health care and reproductive rights issues – topics that resonate widely with her base. CDCE data shows her messages about the Senate’s role in protecting reproductive rights resonated with many Maryland voters — a view that Hogan has struggled to effectively counter, analysts say.

Alsobrooks’ campaign is historic: If elected, she will become Maryland’s first Black woman senator and one of the few Black women to serve in the Senate in the Senate’s 235-year history. “People like me don’t make it to the Senate, but we have to,” Alsobrooks stressed in her speech at the Democratic National Convention in August, calling attention to the systemic barriers black women face to high political office. “We’ve only elected two (Black women) to the Senate, and we’ve only had three at this point, so it was nice to get on that stage and represent people whose voices I feel are underrepresented in the Senate. And it was a great moment,” she told ESSENCE about her performance.

Historical context is important: Carol Moseley Braun was the first black woman elected to the Senate in 1992, followed by Kamala Harris in 2016. In 2023, LaFonza Butler of California became the third Black woman in the Senate to be appointed to fill Dianne Feinstein’s term. she does not intend to run for a full term. If Alsobrooks is successful, she could join Delaware’s Lisa Blunt Rochester, who is also running for the Senate, and together they could potentially flip the Senate with historic levels of black female representation.

Toobooks told ESSENCE that her path to public service was inspired in part by Kamala Harris, then the San Francisco district attorney, whom she first read about in Essence article in 2009. “I read a story in Essence The magazine is about a district attorney using new ideas to keep his community safe,” Alsobrooks recalls. Inspired, she began incorporating restorative justice principles into her work, looking for ways to reimagine criminal justice and increase access to opportunity.

From economic opportunity to access to health care, Alsobrooks says she sees her candidacy as a means to bring about meaningful change. Her platform is focused on expanding reproductive rights, access to health care and educational resources for Marylanders. Alsobrooks also supports comprehensive immigration reform, including a path to citizenship, and has been an outspoken critic of Trump-era tax cuts, calling for higher corporate tax rates to fund programs for working families rather than corporate interests.

The stakes remain high for Alsobrooks as she campaigns to represent Maryland and amplify the voices of its diverse communities in the Senate. Marylanders will soon make their decision on November 5th, setting the course for the state’s future in Washington.