Prince George's County Executive Angela Alsobrooks and former Republican Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan faced off in a debate on Thursday night ahead of the Senate election in Maryland.
In a particularly notable response, Alsobrooks aligned with some of the more progressive lawmakers in the Democrat Party, telling the moderator that she would support packing the Supreme Court.
"I agree with either increasing the number of justices or term limits, yes," she said.
Hogan ridiculed this in his answer, criticizing both parties for "trying to change the rules so they can pack the court."
"What I did was find the most qualified judges, regardless of what party they were," he said.
Striking a tone similar to that of outgoing Sen. Joe Manchin, I-W.Va., Hogan added, "if you can't find one person to cross over and vote for a Democratic judge or a Republican judge, I'm not going to support them."
Manchin had developed a reputation for bucking his party during his time as a Democrat.
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Democrats are favored to win the Maryland Senate seat, but with Hogan's popularity in the state and his distancing from GOP party leaders, the margins appear too close for comfort.
Alsobrooks also backed scrapping the legislative filibuster to accomplish Democrat priorities such as mandating abortion access or loosening voting requirements.
The county executive took several opportunities on Thursday to suggest Hogan's election would give Republicans the Senate majority, regardless of whether he personally disagrees with them or would vote differently. However, top political handicappers favor Republicans to take the Senate majority, with expected wins in West Virginia and Montana, regardless of what happens in the Maryland race.
She further questioned why Hogan would run as a Republican and not as an independent if he disagreed on so many key issues.
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But Hogan pushed back, explaining that he thinks Washington, D.C., needs lawmakers who will challenge their own party. "I've stood up to my party. I'll stand up to either party," he said. "I think we need mavericks in Washington that aren't going to just do exactly what the party bosses tell them to do."
"I'm not a MAGA, Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell person," Hogan stressed.
While the former governor emphasized that he would support the right to abortion and policies like the negotiated border bill that Republicans opposed, Alsobrooks claimed that such bills likely wouldn't get votes in a Republican-controlled Senate.
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The majority leader of the Senate notably controls the agenda in the upper chamber.
In a Washington Post-University of Maryland poll late last month, Alsobrooks led Hogan 51% to 40% in the traditionally deep blue state.
The survey was conducted between Sept. 19 and Sept. 23 and had a sample size of 1,012 registered voters. The margin of error is +/-3.5 percentage points.
The Fox News Power Rankings rated the Maryland Senate race "Leans Democrat" during the same time period.
Top political handicapper the Cook Political Report considers Maryland's open seat to be "Likely Democrat."
