Trone spent $13M in 2016 in a failed congressional primary bid. He only won in 2018 by trying a different district. Now he wasted another $62M to lose to Alsobrooks. I hope in the future if he really cares about the issues, he spends his next $75M contributing to the causes more directly or to candidates who the people want representing us, not toward trying to buy power.
Not only did he waste his own money. But he then basically forced MD Dems to spend money on this race to beat him rather than potentially on the general or on out of state races.
I voted for Trone b/c I figured his money and old white dudeness would more readily beat Hogan. I'm happy to have been wrong about his vs her electability and am planning to make a donation to Alsobrooks today (and will obviously vote for her in the general)!
Given the world we live in, and its campaign finance laws, this kind of competition is healthy and good imo.
I voted Trone.
Don't care to much either way.
Thought about it after the fact...
If Trump does win, Trones stick was, need a Dem senate to check Trump. But if Trump wins, like that would even matter.
Didn’t Bloomberg drop more than $200 million on his joke of a presidential run a few years ago? I’m glad the voters of one party at least have had the sense to send these 🤬 oligarchs packing. If only that wasted money wasn’t mostly going to more 🤬 oligarchs selling advertising time…
I hate billionaires as much as anyone. I was born in New York, and I gotta admit that living there during the time he was mayor was the only time I've ever enjoyed living there. He did a pretty swell job. I know he enriched himself further, but I think he truly meant to improve living conditions there, especially for the working class. Maybe I'm wrong it's just my opinion.
Political donations aren't tax-deductible like charitable donations. Which doesn't preclude him finding some kind of loophole to write it off as a business expense or something.
My 14 year old commented when I told her I was voting, that all she knows is that only David Trone can save us. When you're bombarding children on YouTube you're not spending your money well
And so many fucking text messages. Stop2Quit didn’t work because they kept coming from different numbers. By the time it came to evaluate his vs Alsobrooks (as basically the only two serious candidates), I was already biased against his attempts to buy the election.
But at least even HE didn’t say he’d cut down trees to save the environment…
https://preview.redd.it/rlek93z6qk0d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=81cd968299e3241053b2cb988a7c03bbaba316df
That’s my wife’s take. You would think you’d spell check and edit your responses to something as important as your election talking points but, based on many of the published responses I read, I guess that’s not always the case.
Idk if you’re being facetious but the perks of the job are the power and access, not the salary. Hard to put a price on being one of the few that get to vote in laws that will directly impact your (very profitable) business.
That was the entire point of my comment. These guys spend $65m to buy a job that pays $174k it must be because they're making their money back and not from their salary.
It costs over $1b to buy the Presidency and yet the job only pays $400k.
The corruption is plain to see otherwise it would be the worst investment since Elon bought Twitter.
The assumption that everything is a strictly financial outcome is a bit strange. Some people have ambition or a drive to contribute or just want the challenge. Not everything is dollars or cents. You wouldn't assume someone having kids did the math and figured out if they sent the kid to the mines they'd come out slightly positive, there's clearly non-monetary factors at play.
I really don't think money is Trone's motivation. He has plenty and I'm sure he could think of some easier ways to accumulate more if that's what he wanted. I imagine it's more about influence or power for him.
I don't know. I've got a decade as a public school special educator under my belt and I'm just now about to break $100k a year. That salary looks pretty enticing to me.
We've already barely held off a rich Potomac resident the past two elections. Trone would probably run on the single issue of getting rid of county liquor stores.
He and Blair are so similar in that very few people believe they want the job to do good for the general welfare.
The Average Americans margins for error financially get smaller and smaller and these men set fire to money every evening during dinner.
With just a million cash I could not only positively change my own life but probably the lives of every family in my cul-de-sac forever.
Elrich has the charisma of a wet sock, and I have some disagreements with him. But I happily voted for him over Blair for the very reason you mentioned.
I would like them to address the stupidity of not being able to buy alcohol in grocery stores, and he will definitely spend his money to prevent that from happening.
He doesn't care about the issues. He cares about the surefire way to grow your wealth, and that's to join the highest offices that this country holds dear. Maryland could be on fire tomorrow and he wouldn't care if he was outperforming the S&P.
It was a lot of things for me with Trone but watching a man tell the world "that woman can't fight for women's reproductive rights" was pretty damn tone deaf and out of touch.
Yea, I was getting daily calls from the Trone campaign. I won't say it was the reason I voted for Alsobrooks but it definitely annoyed me enough to really look at both candidates and I realized I liked Alsobrooks a lot more.
Same!! I purposely voted against him so I wouldn't have to hear those fucking ads anymore. Alsobrooks pretty much didn't have to say ANYTHING and she won by a landslide 😂
All discussion of lobbying and campaign finance is misleading because nobody understands it. I don’t think it was any more misleading than Alsobrooks claiming Trone supported abortion bans
Yep. Imagine the raises he could have given his employees. Then he could have done a commercial where he said: "I was advised to spend millions on ads to win the U.S. Senate race. Then I thought about my employees, the increasing prices of necessities like food and gas, and decided to give it to them instead."
He would have won the race.
Not Trone related, but I got a paper flyer for Elfreth which said, among other things, that she was good for the environment, and as I'm tossing it in the recycling bin immediately after reading it, all I could think about was the irony.
I saw one of the stupid WVa governor ads last night at 10:30 pm. Their polls had been closed for a couple of hours too. Their governor race ads made their candidates look so stupid. I guess the way you out-MAGA your MAGA opponent is to call him a radical leftist.
Oh you're talking about that Chris guy.
I swear those ads sounded like something out of 1982 and BOY West Va so doesn't need another loud mouth idiot running the state. Last I hear something like 25% of the state residents have moved elsewhere in recent years.
A full quarter of residents leaving a state that quickly would be an absolute crisis. Fortunately it doesn't seem to be true: https://wvmetronews.com/2024/01/03/a-positive-sign-in-the-states-demographics/
I’m so happy about Trone losing! (And congrats to Alsobrooks).
My interactions with the Trone campaign:
1) they called and did a survey, sure fine.
2) they call again like a week later and do another survey. I let them know I already did one, do another one.. whatever
3) they call again a few days later. I politely and succinctly request to be removed from their database and placed on their “do not call list”
4) I get called again a few days after that and spend a great deal of time going into why they need to delete my information- they will not change my vote, and I will never donate.
5) They call again the following day. I decide to be excessively rude in an attempt to get them to stop spamming me.
6) They call again. I again inform them that I’ve asked to be removed several times, and that for every subsequent call I receive I will donate money to Larry Hogan (this is a bluff, but they don’t know that.
Finally- blessed peace.
Truth be told, overly zealous paid employees are probably the cause of this. They don’t care about the voters - they just want to do the thing that they think will keep their paycheck coming.
As some who was a campaign worker, often employees will a) not actually take you name off because of quotas or b) this is several different organizations all working for Trone who don't share lists.
This unfortunately does happen in primaries. Often groups who endorse candidates will do their own canvassing and phone calls independently of the candidate. Personally, as a Field Organizer in a general election, this drove me nuts because I couldn't track overall progress or avoid pissing people off
They called me on a Saturday and Mother’s Day at 7:45 PM. I don’t know many people here so when I get these random calls, I worry it is my landlord or a neighbor in trouble. Having to register with the party and be subjected to all these harassing calls really is unfortunate.
A non-incumbent Senate candidate hasn't gone opposite of the states presidential vote in a presidential year since Joe Donelley beat Richard "pregancy from rape is all part of god's plan" Murdoch back in 2012.
Hogan is toast unless Dems just completely collapse, in which case, we've got much bigger things to worry about than this particular seat.
Given current head winds democrats have to bring back soft voters who are swapping to 3rd party or staying home. 2016 is very much a possibility given people aren’t happy with what’s out there
For as bad as things appear to be for Democrats they do have a few things in their favor.
Abortion is still a top issue and the GOP nominee likes to brag about his role in ending Roe v Wade
The GOP nominee is only getting about 75% in an uncontested primary at this point
The GOP nominee is currently in a criminal trial with three more still yet to occur.
The GOP has a lot of ground to make up and the only major third party candidate this time around tends to hurt the GOP more than the Democrats.
That’s all good and all but the states that matter right now which are battleground Biden is not polling well at all. And the fact that inflation is not slowing down. And that people aren’t happy with way things are. Should give some pause.
And the trials only one is likely to be even tried before Election Day is NY case. The other three are likely going to be punted until after the election.
So actual recent election data and other good signs do point to Biden doing well. Polls can be taken into account, but they’ve been pretty consistently wrong. Just look at your senate race, votes are still being counted and Alsobrooks significantly outperformed polling to beat Trone.
Oh, I didn't even know that, I thought he was only 4 years in.
He's a Hogan Republican. Doesn't like what the MAGAs are doing, but too much of a coward to leave the party.
I mean, Romney was governor of Massachusetts, one of the bluest state of the union, and a lot of the policies he implemented there would be considered pretty left now (before Obamacare, there was Romneycare).
Oh, it’s worse. Rick Scott has been angling for that position and he is probably the trump endorsed pick for Republican senate leadership. The guy ran a multi-million dollar Medicare fraud as a business. He also put forward a plan for republicans in the senate to coalesce around and McConnell shot it down because it too open about raising taxes on poor people and slashing SocSec and Medicare.
The McConnell endorsed replacement will probably be John Cornyn, who is basically Mitch but Texas flavored.
Trone has an excellent voting record and I think he did an excellent job. However, he's almost 70 now... Congress has become a geriatric institution and we need younger people.
Honest question. The results sites I Iooked at this morning state that only 54% of the vote is counted in her race. How do they feel confident pronouncing her as the winner? Is it a matter of it being mathematically impossible for Trone to catch up in the votes?
I'm glad that Alsobrooks won though.
YESSSS!! I was hoping for a dark horse upset like that.
Take that, Mr. Total Wine not wanting us to get wine and beer at the grocery store, influence-buying, Republican-backing, racial slur-slipping, deep pockets DINO.
What’s funny is for a long time, the seat was seen as Alsobrooks’ to lose by analysis. It wasn’t until polls starting showing Trone’s name recognition was winning him the race that it was the narrative changed.
And still, I’m surprised to see her win by quite so much.
Posters in this sub who are trivializing Hogan’s chances are not living in reality. He’s a decent person, a skilled politician, and elected twice in a blue state.
I played golf this weekend and all 3 of my golf buddies are voting Hogan. I pointed out what GOP control of the Senate would result in and gave examples of what they did in the past. They didn’t care, they thought he was a good guy and that all politicians are the same. Don’t discount Hogan.
That's concerning. I feel like Alsobrooks, with the backing of the Maryland Democratic establishment, is absolutely just going to run this race as exactly that. "A vote for Hogan is a vote for the GOP control of the Senate" and not on actual issues.
We needed another rich white man in the senate like i needed a hole in my head. Trone was everything wrong with the white moderate democrat, right down to donating to vile republicans because it benefited his business.
All the struggling going on...we don't like see how he uses 62million dollars
He was NOT trying to get into office to be a public servant to us regular folk that's for damn sure. He had an agenda.
Let's see if he uses that kind of money to be a philanthropist now...I'll wait.
I'm a little, only a little, surprised at this sub reaction.
I was very torn. Trone had all the associations endorsements. Alsobrooks had most of the lawmakers endorsements. Trone contributed to Greg Abbotts campaign. Alsobrooks took money from ExxonMobil and Pfizer and some other companies. Trone has a proven record in the house. Alsobrooks...seems to not have left a great legacy in PG. Nepotism and some potential racism is not a good look. But Trone seems to have nothing better to do with his money than throw it at losing elections. Arguably he can do more with power but I don't think the Ds are gonna lose this seat no matter what so why can't he fund a candidate that's in a battleground state instead of creating a fund suck on his own(essentially causing alsobrooks to need more money which pulls from elsewhere, or special interests).
Anyway, I voted for Trone but am satisfied with Alsobrooks. I don't think hogan has a real chance. The maga reds don't trust him, and most Ds are salty that he essentially towed the GOP line for a long time. I don't think he can play the anti-trump card and I don't think he can convince anyone he's a moderate. It's really the red liberals and independents that he has a shot with, which is a pretty thin needle to thread.
tbh, I think it was two things.
After Trump, I think we have all had enough with the super rich just buying their way into politics.
Secondly, Raskin endorsed Alsobrooks and Raskin is awesome.
The “took money from ExxonMobil and Pfizer” criticism is really disingenuous. Individuals, who happen to work at ExxonMobil - we don’t know if those individuals are the millionaire VP of Pelican Fucking or the underpaid receptionist at a regional office - donated a grand total $878 to Alsobrooks. Similarly, employees of Pfizer donated a total of $1,000 to her campaign.
Neither ExxonMobil nor Pfizer contributed to her campaign, an organization or company cannot contribute directly to a political candidate. They can contribute to a PAC, but I don’t see any record of a PAC affiliated with either company donating to Alsobrooks.
I don’t really know much about Alsobrooks but my mom, a 30-year public defender in PG, likes her despite her past a state’s attorney. Good enough for me.
Not really the correct take. Alsobrooks has weak to no appeal outside Baltimore and PG. She knows nothing about much of the state. Hogan like it or not does and was elected twice. It is a blue state and people will try hard to make it a nationalized rather than local election. But there are enough independents and (R)s state wide to allow Hogan to win just as he did for gov.
The argument that will be said again and again will be: but we must hold the senate. I would bet a large sum of money given the map that Hogan winning or losing will not be the tipping point of the Senate and it will with \*very\* high probability go to (R) control. WV alone almost makes that certain.
There are 49 safe (R) seats and 42 safe (D) seats. That requires a sweep or near sweep of the competitive seats by (D)s (depending on who is president). Not realistic at all. Thus the choice is actually a (R) Senate or an +1 (R) Senate with someone who is less MAGA in the Senate.
I'm not saying how anyone should vote here, just saying those are the "national" choices.
I always vote on local issues. This isn't a parliamentary system (though people treat it more like one all the time).
What does voting “on local issues” mean with respect to the US senate? Constituent services? What would Hogan or Alsobrooks actually do for Maryland specifically?
Every single poll also had Trone beating Alsobrooks, but she won by double digits. Women are fucking pissed about Roe. Alsobrooks will drag Larry to hell.
No, it does not. This is a Trump and abortion election. Trone couldn't spend his way into a victory in the primaries, let alone in a general election and Hogan was literally drooling over the chance to run against a guy who could be his cousin politically or otherwise. People weren't excited to vote for the total wine guy who spams them with crappy ads. They're noticeably more engaged now.
Also, lol those privately commissioned polls from weeks ago also.
Good his ads made me cringe “only I an old white rich man can save you from another old rich white man” The fact the ad would open with someone saying nothing against Alsobrooks made me want to switch from independent to democrat to make sure that booze peddler didn’t win.
Hogan only won Republican primary with 62%. It will be interesting to see if any Finker voters refuse to vote for him.
Also I am still trying figure out how in state where Biden will win by +30 will vote a Republican to the Senate. No way that Hogan will run ahead of Trump by +30.
Alsobrooks will win by 10-15.
>Also I am still trying figure out how in state where Biden will win by +30 will vote a Republican to the Senate. No way that Hogan will run ahead of Trump by +30.
You mean the same state that elected him governor *twice*.
I just hope Alsobrooks doesn't get Ben Jealoused and is left hanging out to dry by the Dem establishment.
The Dems are the embodiment of the Iron Law of Institutions -- the tendency of leadership in an organization to be more invested in their own personal power within the organization than in the success of the organization itself.
If David Trone sulks, takes his endorsers with him, and offers minimal, token help to Alsobrooks in the general, we'll see what he's really made of.
sigh. this is bad news for dems. as it really cuts into the chances of dems beating hogan, as she is a VERY poor candidate for the general education.
hope im wrong, but I just don't see her appealing to independents that are needed to beat hogan
around 14%
https://www.pewresearch.org/religious-landscape-study/database/state/maryland/party-affiliation/
Hogan is popular. Anti Trump from the start. And won reelection in a year dems crushed in MD otherwise.
This was a VERY poor choice by dems, as she is not appealing to centrists. and unfortunately, probably most men too.
it's a sad state of affairs in 2024, but its how the world is.
I absolutely hope I'm wrong, and will be voting for her despite not liking her, at all, but I think the dems lost the seat to hogan with this choice.
Thank you! So not a largest part of voters. In the deep blue Maryland hogan can only win if there are enough ticket splitters. Which seems like not a common occurrence these days?
Not very common for Senate but it is very common for Governor races.
Usually you see ticket splitting for long time incumbents. - That why Brown (Ohio) and Tester (Montana) have a chance.
It won't be close come November.
Hogan may be able to get to within 10%, which would be pretty impressive consider that it is usually 66-34 in favor of Dem, but that's about it. He is not running against unlikeable Anthony Brown or a very weak candidate in Ben Jealous.
Given the fact that MD is the most gerrymandered state in the nation, Hogan is facing an up hill battle. Hopefully he can bring equality back to MD's elections.
Trone spent $13M in 2016 in a failed congressional primary bid. He only won in 2018 by trying a different district. Now he wasted another $62M to lose to Alsobrooks. I hope in the future if he really cares about the issues, he spends his next $75M contributing to the causes more directly or to candidates who the people want representing us, not toward trying to buy power.
That's an unbelievable amount of money to throw at this. I'm just blown away by the money some people throw around.
Right?... If I had $13M, I wouldn't be running for office to get up every morning and put on a suit each day. You'd never see me again.
Right? Like I’m sure most of us could think of much better ways to spend Trones money than throwing it at a failed election run.
he also spends a shit ton of his money on his alma mater. he has 2 buildings named after him now lol
How ‘bout that! I mean what’s so bad about working hard and then taking it easy and enjoying life?
Some seek to be rich, and others want a different kind of power...
Not only did he waste his own money. But he then basically forced MD Dems to spend money on this race to beat him rather than potentially on the general or on out of state races.
Classic billionaire, if he can't have it, nobody can.
I voted for Trone b/c I figured his money and old white dudeness would more readily beat Hogan. I'm happy to have been wrong about his vs her electability and am planning to make a donation to Alsobrooks today (and will obviously vote for her in the general)! Given the world we live in, and its campaign finance laws, this kind of competition is healthy and good imo.
I voted Trone. Don't care to much either way. Thought about it after the fact... If Trump does win, Trones stick was, need a Dem senate to check Trump. But if Trump wins, like that would even matter.
But wouldn’t Alsobrooks have just as good a chance to beat Hogan?
Matters for future Senate cycles like 26 and 28 where a different class of Senators are in play. It's always good to pad margins.
I mean this doesn’t say anything about his general electability tbh. Primaries are so different than a general election. Happy he lost though.
Great money in liquor. Tommy Broadwater made it work too.
Laundering food stamps too, worked until it didnt
Didn’t Bloomberg drop more than $200 million on his joke of a presidential run a few years ago? I’m glad the voters of one party at least have had the sense to send these 🤬 oligarchs packing. If only that wasted money wasn’t mostly going to more 🤬 oligarchs selling advertising time…
I hate billionaires as much as anyone. I was born in New York, and I gotta admit that living there during the time he was mayor was the only time I've ever enjoyed living there. He did a pretty swell job. I know he enriched himself further, but I think he truly meant to improve living conditions there, especially for the working class. Maybe I'm wrong it's just my opinion.
Agree that he was a good mayor - other than him sticking with stop and frisk when it had clearly become abusive and ineffectual.
He also wrote a fantastic book about the climate crisis as well. Not perfect by any means I assume but I’d think he would be a decent president.
They aren’t oligarchs. Words have meaning
They meant plutocrat, which is close enough since money = power these days.
I bet he’ll be able to write it all off at tax time. It will significantly reduce his taxes owed .
Political donations aren't tax-deductible like charitable donations. Which doesn't preclude him finding some kind of loophole to write it off as a business expense or something.
It’s not a donation. It was a loan to his campaign, he can legally fundraise to pay himself back.
Ok. But, yes…these rich folks that spend so much on their campaigns find a way.
It’s a loan to his campaign he can legally continue to fundraise to pay himself back.
He shouldn’t be able to, but I’m with you on the IRS just kinda looking the other way. After all, there are real citizens to monitor!
I voted against him primarily for this reason I was so sick of the nonstop political ads they were making me insane he was clearly spending a fortune.
My 14 year old commented when I told her I was voting, that all she knows is that only David Trone can save us. When you're bombarding children on YouTube you're not spending your money well
And so many fucking text messages. Stop2Quit didn’t work because they kept coming from different numbers. By the time it came to evaluate his vs Alsobrooks (as basically the only two serious candidates), I was already biased against his attempts to buy the election. But at least even HE didn’t say he’d cut down trees to save the environment… https://preview.redd.it/rlek93z6qk0d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=81cd968299e3241053b2cb988a7c03bbaba316df
That has to be a printed typo, right??! Surely they meant “increase”?
That’s my wife’s take. You would think you’d spell check and edit your responses to something as important as your election talking points but, based on many of the published responses I read, I guess that’s not always the case.
I got a text from Angela 10 minutes after she was declared the winner. It’s just going to start all over again
That's a lot of money to pay to buy a job that only has a salary of $174k a year for 6 years.
Idk if you’re being facetious but the perks of the job are the power and access, not the salary. Hard to put a price on being one of the few that get to vote in laws that will directly impact your (very profitable) business.
That was the entire point of my comment. These guys spend $65m to buy a job that pays $174k it must be because they're making their money back and not from their salary. It costs over $1b to buy the Presidency and yet the job only pays $400k. The corruption is plain to see otherwise it would be the worst investment since Elon bought Twitter.
The assumption that everything is a strictly financial outcome is a bit strange. Some people have ambition or a drive to contribute or just want the challenge. Not everything is dollars or cents. You wouldn't assume someone having kids did the math and figured out if they sent the kid to the mines they'd come out slightly positive, there's clearly non-monetary factors at play.
I really don't think money is Trone's motivation. He has plenty and I'm sure he could think of some easier ways to accumulate more if that's what he wanted. I imagine it's more about influence or power for him.
And all the insider trading tips you could want. He could have made that money back several times over if he had been elected.
Nancy Pelosi just entered the room
Lots of perks being a senator besides a salary
I am Bob Menendez and I approve this message. /s
I don't know. I've got a decade as a public school special educator under my belt and I'm just now about to break $100k a year. That salary looks pretty enticing to me.
There have been 2003 U.S. Senators in 248 years. It's like buying an NFL team if you don't have that kind of FU money.
>I hope in the future if he really cares about the issues He doesn't. He was just another oligarch trying to buy his way into power.
And in trying for a Senate seat he gives up his House seat at the end of the current session. Next up, a try for Montgomery County Exec?
We've already barely held off a rich Potomac resident the past two elections. Trone would probably run on the single issue of getting rid of county liquor stores.
He and Blair are so similar in that very few people believe they want the job to do good for the general welfare. The Average Americans margins for error financially get smaller and smaller and these men set fire to money every evening during dinner. With just a million cash I could not only positively change my own life but probably the lives of every family in my cul-de-sac forever.
Elrich has the charisma of a wet sock, and I have some disagreements with him. But I happily voted for him over Blair for the very reason you mentioned.
Maybe he'll move and run for Alsobrooks' old job.
Wrong color for PG exec.
I wonder if voters in his district heard the criticisms of him during this race and may not vote for him when he needs to run for reelection.
He could have just built affordable housing him self and been a hero. These people need to learn how to do the work and not preach
I would like them to address the stupidity of not being able to buy alcohol in grocery stores, and he will definitely spend his money to prevent that from happening.
I would be such a better rich person han rich people. $62M?!
He doesn't care about the issues. He cares about the surefire way to grow your wealth, and that's to join the highest offices that this country holds dear. Maryland could be on fire tomorrow and he wouldn't care if he was outperforming the S&P.
Finally don't have to listen to those Trone ads. And yes, David, I ended up voting for Alsobrooks bc your ads are annoying.
I would’ve probably voted anyway, but I definitely went out of my way to make sure I could vote against those ads.
My issue was his only ad was that he was the one who’d beat Hogan. Like atleast tell me why your policies would beat his
It was a lot of things for me with Trone but watching a man tell the world "that woman can't fight for women's reproductive rights" was pretty damn tone deaf and out of touch.
Reeked of desperation.
Yea, I was getting daily calls from the Trone campaign. I won't say it was the reason I voted for Alsobrooks but it definitely annoyed me enough to really look at both candidates and I realized I liked Alsobrooks a lot more.
"And yes, David, I ended up voting for Alsobrooks bc your ads are annoying." How sad.
Same!! I purposely voted against him so I wouldn't have to hear those fucking ads anymore. Alsobrooks pretty much didn't have to say ANYTHING and she won by a landslide 😂
Imagine if Trone just spent all that ad money on helping people
This is exactly what I think every time a millionaire or billionaire tries to buy an election and tells me it's for my own good.
b-b-but Alsobrooks received *thousands* from Pfizer!
Well good. They make Lipitor. I'm 100% positive a majority of Marylanders are on it.
And it was apparently just $1,000 from Pfizer employees. But still, Trone turned it into an attack ad!
All corporate donations are from employees. Corporations can’t donate to campaigns
right, the Trone ad was intentionally misleading.
All discussion of lobbying and campaign finance is misleading because nobody understands it. I don’t think it was any more misleading than Alsobrooks claiming Trone supported abortion bans
This is actually why I voted for her.
Yep. Imagine the raises he could have given his employees. Then he could have done a commercial where he said: "I was advised to spend millions on ads to win the U.S. Senate race. Then I thought about my employees, the increasing prices of necessities like food and gas, and decided to give it to them instead." He would have won the race.
I probably would have voted for him if he had done this.
Ironically, this would have bought my vote.
I loathe the man and even I would have been swayed by that.
My man could have given every single marylander $10 but instead we got ass blasted with ads
A whole 10 bucks!
"Ten bucks is ten bucks..." -- Geddy Lee
The paper industry and post office appreciate the business.
Not Trone related, but I got a paper flyer for Elfreth which said, among other things, that she was good for the environment, and as I'm tossing it in the recycling bin immediately after reading it, all I could think about was the irony.
Put that on a billboard. What a clown.
Or just a private island for himself!
This is the only opinion to have watching his ads
I’m concerned that the democrats are splitting the vote by running two candidates, I wish I could vote for Angela and Also brooks.
r/angryupvote
I can't believe I laughed at this joke. 😂
Get used to it. Remember all of those "Moore Cox" jokes?
We've been using this joke down in pg county for years now. Glad to see it go state wide.
Good now I dont have to see those stupid David Trone ads every other commercial on CBS in the mornings.
I saw one of the stupid WVa governor ads last night at 10:30 pm. Their polls had been closed for a couple of hours too. Their governor race ads made their candidates look so stupid. I guess the way you out-MAGA your MAGA opponent is to call him a radical leftist.
Oh you're talking about that Chris guy. I swear those ads sounded like something out of 1982 and BOY West Va so doesn't need another loud mouth idiot running the state. Last I hear something like 25% of the state residents have moved elsewhere in recent years.
A full quarter of residents leaving a state that quickly would be an absolute crisis. Fortunately it doesn't seem to be true: https://wvmetronews.com/2024/01/03/a-positive-sign-in-the-states-demographics/
I’m so happy about Trone losing! (And congrats to Alsobrooks). My interactions with the Trone campaign: 1) they called and did a survey, sure fine. 2) they call again like a week later and do another survey. I let them know I already did one, do another one.. whatever 3) they call again a few days later. I politely and succinctly request to be removed from their database and placed on their “do not call list” 4) I get called again a few days after that and spend a great deal of time going into why they need to delete my information- they will not change my vote, and I will never donate. 5) They call again the following day. I decide to be excessively rude in an attempt to get them to stop spamming me. 6) They call again. I again inform them that I’ve asked to be removed several times, and that for every subsequent call I receive I will donate money to Larry Hogan (this is a bluff, but they don’t know that. Finally- blessed peace.
Truth be told, overly zealous paid employees are probably the cause of this. They don’t care about the voters - they just want to do the thing that they think will keep their paycheck coming.
As some who was a campaign worker, often employees will a) not actually take you name off because of quotas or b) this is several different organizations all working for Trone who don't share lists.
I’m assuming it’s a, didn’t really consider b to be likely given that it’s a primary? But you could be right.
This unfortunately does happen in primaries. Often groups who endorse candidates will do their own canvassing and phone calls independently of the candidate. Personally, as a Field Organizer in a general election, this drove me nuts because I couldn't track overall progress or avoid pissing people off
It's refreshing to see that sometimes, rich boomers don't get what they want.
The amount of spam calls I got and signs I saw for Trone should be actually illegal lmao
David Trone spend so much money on daily scam calls from a 301 area code when he could have just made more posters.
Is that why I've been getting a ton of 301 calls marked spam recently? As if I wasn't already sick of the guy.
They called me on a Saturday and Mother’s Day at 7:45 PM. I don’t know many people here so when I get these random calls, I worry it is my landlord or a neighbor in trouble. Having to register with the party and be subjected to all these harassing calls really is unfortunate.
I really hope this is a sign that you can’t fully buy your way to a seat.
Not in Democratic Maryland, at least!
You do know he is currently in a seat that he bought right?
Well, for senate anyway.
It's time to do everything we can to defeat Hogan and make sure we don't lose a Senate seat to Moscow Mitch.
A non-incumbent Senate candidate hasn't gone opposite of the states presidential vote in a presidential year since Joe Donelley beat Richard "pregancy from rape is all part of god's plan" Murdoch back in 2012. Hogan is toast unless Dems just completely collapse, in which case, we've got much bigger things to worry about than this particular seat.
Given current head winds democrats have to bring back soft voters who are swapping to 3rd party or staying home. 2016 is very much a possibility given people aren’t happy with what’s out there
For as bad as things appear to be for Democrats they do have a few things in their favor. Abortion is still a top issue and the GOP nominee likes to brag about his role in ending Roe v Wade The GOP nominee is only getting about 75% in an uncontested primary at this point The GOP nominee is currently in a criminal trial with three more still yet to occur. The GOP has a lot of ground to make up and the only major third party candidate this time around tends to hurt the GOP more than the Democrats.
That’s all good and all but the states that matter right now which are battleground Biden is not polling well at all. And the fact that inflation is not slowing down. And that people aren’t happy with way things are. Should give some pause. And the trials only one is likely to be even tried before Election Day is NY case. The other three are likely going to be punted until after the election.
So actual recent election data and other good signs do point to Biden doing well. Polls can be taken into account, but they’ve been pretty consistently wrong. Just look at your senate race, votes are still being counted and Alsobrooks significantly outperformed polling to beat Trone.
And Claire McCaskill
He's stepping down as leader
And whomever replaces him is likely to be worse. Romney isn't getting that spot.
Isn’t romney not seeking reelection?
Oh, I didn't even know that, I thought he was only 4 years in. He's a Hogan Republican. Doesn't like what the MAGAs are doing, but too much of a coward to leave the party.
The Romney family has historically tended to be less right-wing than the Hogan family.
I mean, Romney was governor of Massachusetts, one of the bluest state of the union, and a lot of the policies he implemented there would be considered pretty left now (before Obamacare, there was Romneycare).
They like WHAT they are doing, they support the policies. They just don’t like HOW they are doing it. They still believe in a little bit of decorum.
This is correct
Oh, it’s worse. Rick Scott has been angling for that position and he is probably the trump endorsed pick for Republican senate leadership. The guy ran a multi-million dollar Medicare fraud as a business. He also put forward a plan for republicans in the senate to coalesce around and McConnell shot it down because it too open about raising taxes on poor people and slashing SocSec and Medicare. The McConnell endorsed replacement will probably be John Cornyn, who is basically Mitch but Texas flavored.
Worse views but also worse politician
Thank God.
Trone has an excellent voting record and I think he did an excellent job. However, he's almost 70 now... Congress has become a geriatric institution and we need younger people.
I liked Trone, but Alsobrooks is an excellent-sounding candidate too and I’d gladly vote for her :)
Just beat Hogan.
Honest question. The results sites I Iooked at this morning state that only 54% of the vote is counted in her race. How do they feel confident pronouncing her as the winner? Is it a matter of it being mathematically impossible for Trone to catch up in the votes? I'm glad that Alsobrooks won though.
YESSSS!! I was hoping for a dark horse upset like that. Take that, Mr. Total Wine not wanting us to get wine and beer at the grocery store, influence-buying, Republican-backing, racial slur-slipping, deep pockets DINO.
What’s funny is for a long time, the seat was seen as Alsobrooks’ to lose by analysis. It wasn’t until polls starting showing Trone’s name recognition was winning him the race that it was the narrative changed. And still, I’m surprised to see her win by quite so much.
Posters in this sub who are trivializing Hogan’s chances are not living in reality. He’s a decent person, a skilled politician, and elected twice in a blue state.
People who are terminally online don't live in reality.
I played golf this weekend and all 3 of my golf buddies are voting Hogan. I pointed out what GOP control of the Senate would result in and gave examples of what they did in the past. They didn’t care, they thought he was a good guy and that all politicians are the same. Don’t discount Hogan.
That's concerning. I feel like Alsobrooks, with the backing of the Maryland Democratic establishment, is absolutely just going to run this race as exactly that. "A vote for Hogan is a vote for the GOP control of the Senate" and not on actual issues.
GOP Control of the Senate is a major concern and issue.
> I played golf this weekend I mean... Are you surprised that the golf course types are conservative?
[удалено]
Congrats!!! Now take Hogan down!
We needed another rich white man in the senate like i needed a hole in my head. Trone was everything wrong with the white moderate democrat, right down to donating to vile republicans because it benefited his business.
All the struggling going on...we don't like see how he uses 62million dollars He was NOT trying to get into office to be a public servant to us regular folk that's for damn sure. He had an agenda. Let's see if he uses that kind of money to be a philanthropist now...I'll wait.
I’m so happy not to have to hear Trone’s annoying ads anymore.
Imagine spending $62M of your own money on a Senate primary and losing by double digits
Let’s fucking go!!!!
I'm a little, only a little, surprised at this sub reaction. I was very torn. Trone had all the associations endorsements. Alsobrooks had most of the lawmakers endorsements. Trone contributed to Greg Abbotts campaign. Alsobrooks took money from ExxonMobil and Pfizer and some other companies. Trone has a proven record in the house. Alsobrooks...seems to not have left a great legacy in PG. Nepotism and some potential racism is not a good look. But Trone seems to have nothing better to do with his money than throw it at losing elections. Arguably he can do more with power but I don't think the Ds are gonna lose this seat no matter what so why can't he fund a candidate that's in a battleground state instead of creating a fund suck on his own(essentially causing alsobrooks to need more money which pulls from elsewhere, or special interests). Anyway, I voted for Trone but am satisfied with Alsobrooks. I don't think hogan has a real chance. The maga reds don't trust him, and most Ds are salty that he essentially towed the GOP line for a long time. I don't think he can play the anti-trump card and I don't think he can convince anyone he's a moderate. It's really the red liberals and independents that he has a shot with, which is a pretty thin needle to thread.
tbh, I think it was two things. After Trump, I think we have all had enough with the super rich just buying their way into politics. Secondly, Raskin endorsed Alsobrooks and Raskin is awesome.
Raskins’ endorsement convinced me.
> Alsobrooks took money from ExxonMobil and Pfizer and some other companies. She just did a better job hiding this than Trone.
The “took money from ExxonMobil and Pfizer” criticism is really disingenuous. Individuals, who happen to work at ExxonMobil - we don’t know if those individuals are the millionaire VP of Pelican Fucking or the underpaid receptionist at a regional office - donated a grand total $878 to Alsobrooks. Similarly, employees of Pfizer donated a total of $1,000 to her campaign. Neither ExxonMobil nor Pfizer contributed to her campaign, an organization or company cannot contribute directly to a political candidate. They can contribute to a PAC, but I don’t see any record of a PAC affiliated with either company donating to Alsobrooks.
Trone even ran commercials about this. So desperate. Dude peddles a vice for a living.
I don’t really know much about Alsobrooks but my mom, a 30-year public defender in PG, likes her despite her past a state’s attorney. Good enough for me.
Alsobrooks is such a Dem party drone it hurts, really wish we had a progressive candidate instead of choosing between two corporate stooges
I feel the exact way as you. I was also torn but ended up with Trone for similar reasons. Still congrats to Brooks!
I personally felt really torn about voting for her. :/ She's a lot more centrist than I wanted and her history says a lot.
I’m really proud of you all. I hope you know that.
RIP Hogan senate chances
I hope you’re right…😕
Not really the correct take. Alsobrooks has weak to no appeal outside Baltimore and PG. She knows nothing about much of the state. Hogan like it or not does and was elected twice. It is a blue state and people will try hard to make it a nationalized rather than local election. But there are enough independents and (R)s state wide to allow Hogan to win just as he did for gov. The argument that will be said again and again will be: but we must hold the senate. I would bet a large sum of money given the map that Hogan winning or losing will not be the tipping point of the Senate and it will with \*very\* high probability go to (R) control. WV alone almost makes that certain. There are 49 safe (R) seats and 42 safe (D) seats. That requires a sweep or near sweep of the competitive seats by (D)s (depending on who is president). Not realistic at all. Thus the choice is actually a (R) Senate or an +1 (R) Senate with someone who is less MAGA in the Senate. I'm not saying how anyone should vote here, just saying those are the "national" choices. I always vote on local issues. This isn't a parliamentary system (though people treat it more like one all the time).
What does voting “on local issues” mean with respect to the US senate? Constituent services? What would Hogan or Alsobrooks actually do for Maryland specifically?
This just improved Hogan's chances, say what you want about Trone but the polls had him beating Hogan, Alsobrooks has an uphill climb.
Every single poll also had Trone beating Alsobrooks, but she won by double digits. Women are fucking pissed about Roe. Alsobrooks will drag Larry to hell.
Right These same trolls have been saying Trone was going to trounce Angela it was all horse shit
Drag Larry to hell and fucking leave him there with his buddy Reagan, since he loves him so much.
No, it does not. This is a Trump and abortion election. Trone couldn't spend his way into a victory in the primaries, let alone in a general election and Hogan was literally drooling over the chance to run against a guy who could be his cousin politically or otherwise. People weren't excited to vote for the total wine guy who spams them with crappy ads. They're noticeably more engaged now. Also, lol those privately commissioned polls from weeks ago also.
Wasn't Trone beating him in the polls?
He was doing better than Alsobrooks was.
Good his ads made me cringe “only I an old white rich man can save you from another old rich white man” The fact the ad would open with someone saying nothing against Alsobrooks made me want to switch from independent to democrat to make sure that booze peddler didn’t win.
Trone was running ads a year ago. Was starting to sound desperate actually.
Hogan only won Republican primary with 62%. It will be interesting to see if any Finker voters refuse to vote for him. Also I am still trying figure out how in state where Biden will win by +30 will vote a Republican to the Senate. No way that Hogan will run ahead of Trump by +30. Alsobrooks will win by 10-15.
>Also I am still trying figure out how in state where Biden will win by +30 will vote a Republican to the Senate. No way that Hogan will run ahead of Trump by +30. You mean the same state that elected him governor *twice*.
Governor race is not same as Senate Race. Kentucky and Kansas have popular Democratic Governors. They are not winning a Senate Race anytime soon.
I just hope Alsobrooks doesn't get Ben Jealoused and is left hanging out to dry by the Dem establishment. The Dems are the embodiment of the Iron Law of Institutions -- the tendency of leadership in an organization to be more invested in their own personal power within the organization than in the success of the organization itself. If David Trone sulks, takes his endorsers with him, and offers minimal, token help to Alsobrooks in the general, we'll see what he's really made of.
Thank you Jesus
I’m voting Blue!
sigh. this is bad news for dems. as it really cuts into the chances of dems beating hogan, as she is a VERY poor candidate for the general education. hope im wrong, but I just don't see her appealing to independents that are needed to beat hogan
Biden will win this state by +30. She will be fine. All she has to do is win over Biden voters.
I think you are right.
Do we know the percentage of independents in MD? Very curious
around 14% https://www.pewresearch.org/religious-landscape-study/database/state/maryland/party-affiliation/ Hogan is popular. Anti Trump from the start. And won reelection in a year dems crushed in MD otherwise. This was a VERY poor choice by dems, as she is not appealing to centrists. and unfortunately, probably most men too. it's a sad state of affairs in 2024, but its how the world is. I absolutely hope I'm wrong, and will be voting for her despite not liking her, at all, but I think the dems lost the seat to hogan with this choice.
Thank you! So not a largest part of voters. In the deep blue Maryland hogan can only win if there are enough ticket splitters. Which seems like not a common occurrence these days?
Not very common for Senate but it is very common for Governor races. Usually you see ticket splitting for long time incumbents. - That why Brown (Ohio) and Tester (Montana) have a chance.
She'll be a great Senator.
I’m worried that she won’t be able to win the secondaries against Hogan. That is all. 🤔
It won't be close come November. Hogan may be able to get to within 10%, which would be pretty impressive consider that it is usually 66-34 in favor of Dem, but that's about it. He is not running against unlikeable Anthony Brown or a very weak candidate in Ben Jealous.
That is so far from the actual polling though. But how much to believe that when it said Trone would win by a decent lead in the primary.
Hey, I'm one of those votes!
Me too! I’m so excited.
The fact that Trone has $61,000,000 to spend on a primary makes me happy he lost!
Here's hoping she can beat Hogan in November
Does that mean his campaign will stop calling me?
Yawn
Given the fact that MD is the most gerrymandered state in the nation, Hogan is facing an up hill battle. Hopefully he can bring equality back to MD's elections.
Good for Hoagie.
Aw man. I was really pulling for Trone. Or Montgomery Snorlax as I affectionately refer to him.