Primary ’24 Candidates Review: Senator for Maryland
Cardin is leaving after a generation in office, and a bunch of candidates are vying for his seat:
FINE CANDIDATES
Brian Frydenborg: freelance news blogger and policy consultant; left of center stances on medical expansion and open about racist police misconduct[1]; his focus is dominated by international rather than local issues, though he sometimes connects these[2] and has the best answer and thinking on supreme court criteria [3]; of all the candidates he has the only bold suggestions for changing various instances of gridlock and process paralysis[4]. up front about police abuse, feminist politics. although he seems competent in international diplomacy his answers are so long and detailed in every instance that it makes me doubt his capacity to communicate with non-experts; endorsed by Center for Freethought Equality[5 ]
Marcellus Crews: manager of data security firm; very tidy responses that often border on generic but good when specific-”Laws that protect consumers data”[6] would be an improvement over pro-surveillance state Maryland Representative Dutch Ruppersberger. wants to use technical knowledge competence “to make Maryland the Silicon Valley of the East Coast”[7] and someone with this expertise would be a cool change of pace from present congressional comprehension of technology.
Steven Seuferer: regular guy, developed interest in making a difference in politics this past decade. Ultra-populist framing of his campaign: the average American is sick of career politicians and no one should die for being poor[8]. Hugely supportive of trans rights and also for term limits on all political positions of power[9] and critical of the war on terror.
WORST CANDIDATE
Robert Houton: differentiates himself as being of the “new generation” but most outdated views in the race. practically a single issue immigration candidate, uses experience with fentanyl legislation[10] to push his only detailed stance: “I would support include: Ending the current policy of “catch and release” and replace with detect and deport.”[11]
OTHER MINOR CANDIDATES
Cobb: does roofing — populist message from an actual regular guy[12]
Juan Dominguez: in favor of raising the minimum wage to $30/hour[13]
Scottie Griffin — website defunct
Andrew Wildman — endorsed by Progressive Wave
BIG CANDIDATES
None of the above candidates are polling in measurable amounts or raising a fraction of the funds of the 2 top runners who will be focused on for the rest of this evaluation: House Representative of Western Maryland into Montgomery County and super rich alcohol business mogul David Trone has a slight and shrinking lead against Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks, who would become Maryland’s first African-American senator
SIMILARITIES
-both fine on immigration with support for dream act and comprehensive immigration reform
-both the same on gun control
-both have a history of pushing for raising the minimum wage[14]
-most of their views are pretty similar actually — so I’ll try to pick apart the differences in more detail:
DIFFERENCES
Abortion Rights: both fully and enthusiastically pro-choice, in deed as well as rhetoric[15] (though Trone’s campaigns have donated tens of thousands of dollars to the campaigns of anti-abortion republicans) [16]
Environment: Trone not bad, normal democrat stances like supporting energy adjustments, but nothing to the left of Biden. Alsobrooks seems more ambitious — advocates a Green New Deal[17] and set some ambitious environmental objectives for PG County
Elections: Both vocal about supporting voter rights via the For The People/Freedom to Vote Act but Alsobrooks is endorsed by End Citizens United[18], whereas Trone is a rich guy who buys elections[19]
Sources of Campaign Funds: Alsobrooks’ vast majority of campaign funds are from individual donations, and vastly outraised Trone across all donations categories [20]; Trone is mostly self-financed because super rich, with assets in electronics, finance and alcohol, but not devoid of lobby money [21]
Police/Crime/Legal: as first woman state’s attorney for PG county, Alsobrooks claims responsibility for dropping crime as well as “established a first-of-its-kind unit to investigate and prosecute police and official misconduct” [17]; her administration budgets oversaw increases in spending on police[22]; Trone donated $15 million to the ACLU to study recidivism and sentencing reform and is outspokenly critical of overzealous prosecutors and law enforcement overreach… due in large part for his struggles trying to circumvent laws he didn’t agree with in building his alcohol empire[23]
CONCLUSION
I’m voting for Alsobrooks
REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING
Overview of all candidates
https://moco360.media/voters-guide/u-s-senate-2024/
Frydenborg
[1] “there is a sickness of racism and bias in America’s police forces and the criminal justice system as a whole, and it has been going on for far too long.”
[2] connection between palestinian & black oppression addressed directly
https://realcontextnews.com/a-ferguson-intifada-why-african-americans-are-americas-palestinians/
[5] https://www.cfequality.org/members/endorsements/2024
Crews
[6] https://www.marcelluscrews.com/our-vision/
[7] https://www.marcelluscrews.com/about/
Seuferer
[8] https://ballotpedia.org/Steven_Seuferer#Campaign_themes
[9] “One of the most important positions I’m going to be taking in this campaign is that trans rights are human rights, and the LGBTQ community deserves equal rights just as anyone else does.”
more on Seuferer:
Houton
[10] — https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/118/s2569
more on Houton:
https://ballotpedia.org/Robert_Houton#Campaign_themes
Other
[12] https://www.ourcampaigns.com/CandidateDetail.html?CandidateID=626594
other on Cobb:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/3108103909513342/
Alsobrooks vs Trone
debate:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rthv3TczWK4&ab_channel=WBFFFOX45Baltimore
[15] Alsobrooks: “will defend abortion rights nationwide via judicial nominee choices, support for planned parenthood and co-sponsoring immediate federal abortion protections”
https://vote-usa.org/Intro.aspx?State=MD&Id=MDAlsobrooksAngelaD
Trone abortion support via supporting the opening of a reproductive health clinic in Western Maryland: https://davidtrone.com/davids-work/
[16] https://time.com/6303732/senate-race-maryland-david-trone-abortion/
[17] https://www.vote411.org/ballot
[18] https://bluevoterguide.org/MD/candidate_Angela_Alsobrooks/500460
[19] https://twitter.com/JacobRubashkin/status/1779998287853961218
[20] https://www.fec.gov/data/elections/senate/MD/2024/
[21] https://www.opensecrets.org/members-of-congress/david-trone/summary?cid=N00039122
https://www.fec.gov/data/candidate/S4MD00319/?cycle=2024&election_full=true
https://www.opensecrets.org/personal-finances/david-trone/net-worth?cid=N00039122
I try my best on this independent research, and would strongly appreciate constructive feedback, corrections and additions, challenges and critiques, the wide sharing of my work with or without attribution, and/or financial support on patreon
by Mike Hanes, May 2024
