Top Maryland Democrats are condemning a new ad from a super PAC supporting Republican U.S. Senate nominee Larry Hogan that appears to lump his opponent, Angela Alsobrooks, in with “corrupt” politicians from the majority-Black county where Alsobrooks is the top elected official.
“The latest Larry Hogan ad is yet another example of Larry Hogan adopting Donald Trump’s politics of character assassination,” said Reps. Steny Hoyer and Glenn Ivey, the two Democrats who represent Maryland’s Prince George’s County in the U.S. House, in a statement to HuffPost. “It’s a scurrilous attempt to smear Prince George’s County and the people who live here. Just this weekend, we heard deeply offensive rhetoric about Puerto Rico during Donald Trump’s rally.”
The new ad from the Maryland’s Future PAC, which supports Hogan, begins: “PG County is full of corrupt politicians. Then there’s Angela Alsobrooks.” It’s one of at least dozens of ads from both sides that have saturated airwaves in deep-blue Maryland ahead of next week’s election.
The ad then brands Alsobrooks as a “tax cheat” based on a report that the Prince George’s County official improperly claimed tax credits she didn’t qualify for — including a senior citizens tax break on a home previously owned by her grandmother in Washington, D.C., as well as a homestead tax exemption.
Alsobrooks has attempted to rectify the situation, but it’s nonetheless given Republicans fodder to go after her in an unexpectedly competitive blue-state race featuring Maryland’s former Republican governor. She said during an debate with Hogan earlier this month that she paid off the back taxes owed on the Washington property, which she sold six years ago, and is working now to pay off the interest.
In a statement to HuffPost, Lance Trover, a spokesperson for Maryland’s Future, said: “Angela Alsobrooks owes the District of Columbia almost $50,000 after dodging her property taxes for 15 years, she was illegally renting her D.C. home, and she was sued for not paying her HOA fees and water and sewer bills on another property. What’s offensive is that Alsobrooks is a public official who expects Prince George’s County residents to pay their taxes and follow the law, but she doesn’t hold herself to the same standards.”
Hogan’s campaign in a statement said, “Hogan is proud to be from Prince George’s County, where he has a number of leading endorsements, including the local [Fraternal Order of Police] — and as Angela Alsobrooks has said, he ‘really wants to work with Prince George’s.’”
Hogan has tried to distance himself from the GOP to win crossover votes by convincing voters he’d be an independent voice for Maryland in the Senate. But Democrats have sought to remind voters that Hogan once espoused a less progressive stance on reproductive rights and would ultimately caucus with Republicans in Washington.
“It is disappointing to see the old governor reverting to the dirty tricks of politics that for Marylanders is exhausting at this point. The excitement around his campaign is coming from outside of the state of Maryland, while the excitement around her campaign is coming from everyday Marylanders,” said Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, the Democrat who succeeded Hogan.
Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen also blasted Hogan and his allies. The ad was put out by a super PAC that does not coordinate with Hogan’s campaign.
“Larry Hogan and his supporters are taking a page out of Donald Trump’s playbook in attempting to slander the character of not only Angela Alsobrooks but also the people of Prince George’s County. This is simply not who we are as Marylanders. This super PAC ad is another attempt to distract voters from the real issues and flood our airwaves with disgusting attacks. While it’s disappointing to see her opponent’s supporters stoop to such lows, it’s no surprise when they are funded by MAGA Republicans who want control of the Senate,” Van Hollen said.
Hoyer and Ivey also called the ad “offensive” and “wrong” in its attempt to “denigrate” the character of Prince George’s County, which borders Washington.
“You cannot claim you want to represent the entire state in the U.S. Senate if you’ve already decided that 960,000 people are ‘corrupt.’ That’s what Larry Hogan has decided to do alongside his billionaire allies in this latest ad.”