Questions we’d like the Senate candidates to answer during their TV debate
Then-Gov. Larry Hogan (R) and Prince George's County Executive Angela Alsobrooks (D) at an event in 2022, before the two became rivals in a closely watched race for the U.S. Senate. Photo by Bruce DePuyt.
What’s likely to be the only televised debate of the Maryland Senate election is scheduled to air on multiple platforms Thursday evening.
As if we needed further proof that the contest between Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks (D) and former Gov. Larry Hogan (R) is a big deal — and is attracting national attention — Chuck Todd, the former host of “Meet the Press” and chief NBC News political analyst is serving as the moderator. That’s box office!
Members of the media lined up to ask the candidates questions are Jeff Salkin, the news anchor at Maryland Public Television; Alexis Taylor, managing editor of the Afro; Deborah Weiner, news anchor at WBAL-TV in Baltimore; and Tracee Wilkins, investigative reporter at WRC-TV in Washington, D.C.
The debate will be taped Thursday afternoon at the MPT studios in Owings Mills and broadcast statewide from 7-8 p.m. on MPT, as well as on WBAL-TV and WBAL-AM in Baltimore and WRC-TV in the Washington area.
It will air nationally on C-SPAN at 8 p.m. and repeat on MPT at 11 p.m. The debate will also livestream at 7 p.m. on mpt.org/vote2024/ and be available on the MPT website in the weeks that follow.
Recent public polls have shown Alsobrooks ahead, which isn’t surprising given all the inherent advantages Democrats have in Maryland — especially in a presidential election year. But the race remains close, thanks to Hogan’s better name recognition and the new onslaught of negative ads from a Hogan-aligned super PAC on the tax credits Alsobrooks improperly claimed — she says mistakenly — on properties she owned in Maryland and in the District of Columbia.
Will Thursday night’s debate shift the political dynamic at all?
Despite hiccups here and there, like the Alsobrooks tax credits flap, the race has been remarkably stable since the May primaries. Alsobrooks’ task has been to tie Hogan to former President Donald Trump and Senate Republican leaders and cast his election as a threat to Democratic control of the chamber, and most especially to abortion rights. Hogan’s job has been to portray himself as an independent operator who would be a voice of reason in the Republican Party who won’t be beholden to either party if he gets to Capitol Hill.
If Hogan can persuade a little more than 30% of Maryland Democrats of that, he has a pretty good chance of winning. If he can’t, he won’t. And so far, if the polls are to be believed, he hasn’t.
Televised candidate debates can create memorable moments, but given their formats, they don’t often lend themselves to strong and nuanced answers. The candidates will undoubtedly be asked about abortion and will probably get questions about the economy, immigration and foreign affairs. Will the responses be illuminating at all?
Here are some questions we’d like to see asked at the Hogan-Alsobrooks debate:
County Executive Alsobrooks, one of your strongest arguments against Gov. Hogan in a Democratic state is that his election could help Republicans regain control of the Senate. But the reality is, one Democratic-held seat is going to flip to the GOP on Election Day and another half dozen are in danger of doing so — and all it will take is a two-seat switch to put the Senate in Republican hands, meaning it’s very likely the Senate will flip regardless of what happens in Maryland. Does that diminish your argument against Gov. Hogan? What should voters think when they hear him say he can be an honest broker who can bridge the divide between the two parties, while he says you will just be a reflexive partisan?
Gov. Hogan, now that your friend West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin is retiring, can you name Democrats in the Senate you anticipate reaching out to and working with if you’re elected? If 60% of Maryland voters want the Senate to remain blue, as a recent poll suggests, what’s your pitch to them to vote for you? If you are one of, say, 53 or 54 Republican senators, will you in fact be able to be the bridge between the two parties you imagine yourself being? Or will the need for compromise go out the window and will your effectiveness be obliterated by GOP hegemony?
Gov. Hogan, you frequently boast that you governed in a bipartisan way when you were governor. Can you identify three instances when you actually rolled up your sleeves and worked out compromises with Democratic leaders in the legislature?
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Gov. Hogan, on the issue of abortion rights, you now describe yourself as pro-choice and said you would work to restore the protections that were contained in the Roe v. Wade decision, which the Supreme Court obliterated in 2022. Considering you have described yourself through the years as being personally pro-life, that you vetoed a bill in 2022 that would have expanded the list of medical professionals who can provide abortions, and also refused to release state funding to train these individuals, why should the voters believe you?
County Executive Alsobrooks, the Prince George’s County Board of Education has been wracked by internal dissension for most of the time you’ve been county executive — in part due to the performance of a school board chair that you appointed, Juanita Miller. Do you regret appointing her? Why do you think the school board has been so divided for so long and what should be done to fix it?
County Executive Alsobrooks, in Prince George’s County there is intense interest over who might succeed you if you are elected to the Senate. And timing is everything: If you win and resign as county executive before the beginning of December, there will be a special election to replace you. If you wait until later, or until you are sworn in as senator in early January, there will be a county council vote to replace you — with only council members eligible to succeed you. Are you willing to say when you would depart as county executive if you are elected and explain your thinking? Can you justify the expense of a special election if that’s what happens?
Gov. Hogan, during this campaign you and your surrogates have tried to tear down County Executive Alsobrooks’ record, on crime, on the economy, and on her own personal ethics. Yet there are also media accounts of you calling her “a great leader” and “a good county executive.” Which is it?
Gov. Hogan, the next president of the United States is either going to be Donald Trump or Kamala Harris and you have repeatedly said you are not going to vote for either — just as you wrote in the names of Republicans in 2016 and 2020. So who are you going to vote for this time? Don’t you think this is a time for choosing? How do you justify essentially throwing your vote away? Several prominent Republicans have announced their support for Vice President Harris — what do you make of that? For whom do you think Lawrence Hogan Sr. would vote if he were still alive?
County Executive Alsobrooks, you have worked with Gov. Hogan’s administration to develop the Blue Line corridor and on other economic development projects. Setting aside the national debate over abortion and other issues, how would you assess his two terms as governor and do you think he was good for Prince George’s County? What as governor do you wish he had done differently? Why do you think he has been so politically popular, even with many Democrats?
County Executive Alsobrooks, many Latino leaders in Prince George’s have criticized you over the years for not hiring enough Latinos into top positions in your administration, and for not doing enough to lift up struggling Latino neighborhoods in the county, especially during the pandemic. Many of these same leaders in fact endorsed your opponent in the Democratic primary for Senate — though most are backing you in the general election against Gov. Hogan. How do you respond to their criticism and do you think that antipathy from Latino leaders is justified? And could it hurt you on Election Day?
Additionally, there are several issues that both candidates ought to be asked about, including:
What should the federal response to climate change be? How can the government pay for it?
How can the federal government work to close the achievement gap for students of color in American public schools?
Should the Congress raise the federal gas taxes for the first time in 30 years to help boost funding for transportation infrastructure projects? As electric vehicles come into wider use, draining some of the federal government’s highway trust fund, what can be done to make up for the lost revenue?
What are your five favorite restaurants and bars in Maryland?
