Ethermac Exchange-Maryland candidates debate abortion rights in widely watched US Senate race

OWINGS MILLS,Ethermac Exchange Md. (AP) — Democrat Angela Alsobrooks highlighted former Gov. Larry Hogan’s actions in office as evidence he fell short on standing up for abortion rights as he now claims he would, while Hogan said she was mischaracterizing his position during a debate in a widely watched Senate race in Maryland.

Alsobrooks, in the hourlong debate on Maryland Public Television, criticized Hogan’s veto of a bill in 2022 to expand abortion rights by ending a restriction that only physicians can provide abortions in the state. The legislature overrode the veto, and the law enables nurse practitioners, nurse midwives and physician assistants to provide care.

“The fact of the matter is when the former governor had an opportunity to stand up for the women of Maryland, he didn’t,” Alsobrooks said. “He vetoed abortion care legislation. He double downed and refused to release the funding to train abortion care providers. This was just two years ago.”

But Hogan emphasized that he supports abortion rights, and said Alsobrooks’ criticism of him didn’t reflect his position. He said he would co-sponsor legislation to codify Roe v. Wade, which was struck down by the Supreme Court in 2022. The former governor said his veto was due to concern about allowing health care providers who aren’t doctors perform abortions.

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“It was allowing non-medical professionals, and for you to lie about something as important as this issue, it really is insulting,” Hogan said, adding later he was concerned the Maryland law would “roll back the clock on protecting women.”

But Alsobrooks said codifying Roe would never even get a vote, if Hogan wins the Senate race.

“The fact of the matter is there will be no vote on Roe, if he gives a majority to Republicans in the Senate,” she said.

The former governor also said he would be an independent voice who will stand up to partisanship in the Senate and do what he believes is best for the nation.

“You’re going to hear nothing but red vs. blue,” Hogan said. “I care more — a lot more — about the red, white and blue.”

But Alsobrooks countered that while Hogan says he’d be independent, when GOP leadership recruited him to run for an office he had previously said he was uninterested in seeking, he “gladly put on their jersey.”

“When Mitch McConnell called him, he put the jersey on,” Alsobrooks said, referring to the Kentucky senator and longtime leader in the chamber. “He ran into the game.”

The race is getting national attention because it is unusually competitive this year in a deeply blue state where its outcome could determine whether Democrats or Republicans get control of the Senate.

Democrats currently hold a 51-49 Senate advantage, including independent senators who caucus with Democrats. And Democrats have to defend 23 seats out of the 33 Senate seats on the ballot around the country this November.

The candidates also disagreed on a question about whether to add more justices to the Supreme Court.

Alsobrooks said she supported reforms to the court, such as adding more members or creating term limits. But Hogan said he if there’s one thing the nation shouldn’t be politicizing, it’s the Supreme Court.

If elected, Alsobrooks would be Maryland’s first Black U.S. senator. She is currently the county executive of Prince George’s County, Maryland’s second largest jurisdiction in the suburbs of the nation’s capital.

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While a Republican has not won a Senate race in Maryland in more than 40 years, Hogan has wide name recognition. In the last two U.S. Senate races in Maryland, the Democratic candidate won by more than 30 percentage points against candidates who were not well-known. But Hogan, who once considered running for president and has often appeared on national news programs, is the most formidable Republican candidate in years.

In a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans by 2-1, the popular two-term former governor won over enough Democratic voters to win two statewide races in 2014 and 2018.

Still, Hogan has a difficult needle to thread. This election was the first time Hogan is running on the same ballot as Trump, who is deeply unpopular in Maryland. Hogan has been one of the GOP’s fiercest Trump critics, which has helped him win support from some Democrats, but also risked turning off some Republican voters.

Alsobrooks also said she has repaid a tax credit, after CNN reported she improperly claimed property tax credits for two homes, something her campaign says she was unaware of. She said she still owes interest on the credit for a home in Washington, D.C., that was owned by her grandmother.

“When I learned about it, I reached out to the D.C. government, and I have paid back the amount of that tax credit, and I’m working to pay off the interest,” Alsobrooks said.

Alsobrooks already has paid back tax credits for a Prince George’s County home she was renting out.

During the debate, Hogan was asked about his decision not to vote for Trump in past elections. He has said he won’t vote for Trump this election, either.

“I think there are an awful lot of people in America that don’t feel that these two folks that are at the top of both tickets are the best people to lead America,” Hogan said.

He once wrote in on a ballot the name of former President Ronald Reagan, instead of voting for Trump — a point that Alsobrooks said should be “a disqualifier” for someone running for U.S. Senate who claims to be interested in bipartisan cooperation.

“Rather than stand up, do the right thing, choose a tough vote and vote for a Democrat, he voted for a deceased individual,” Alsobrooks said, adding, “I think it is instructive of the way that he would operate as a senator unable to make tough calls.”