Democratic Rep. David Trone is neck and neck with former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan in the 2024 race to replace retiring Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), according to a new poll.
A Goucher College/Baltimore Banner survey released Tuesday found that 43% of registered voters said they would vote for Hogan, a Republican, in November, compared to 42% who said they would vote for Trone — with 10% voting for Trone. ‘undecided.
A majority of Republicans (73%) and independent voters (59%) would vote for Hogan in the general election, while 62% of Democrats said they would support their party’s nominee if it were Trone.
The three-term Maryland Democrat still has to win the May 14 Democratic primary against Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks.
Hogan’s lead increases above the poll’s margin of error when placed in a head-to-head matchup with Alsobrooks, with 44% of registered voters supporting the former Maryland governor and 40% voting for the county executive – with 11% undecided.
Similarly, Republican and independent voters in the state plan to vote for Hogan at 76% and 63%, respectively, while 60% of Democrats said they would vote for Alsobrooks if she secures the Senate nomination for the state election. 2024.
The Goucher/Baltimore Banner poll surveyed 800 registered voters in Maryland from March 19-24, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
On March 21, Trone made national headlines after admitting to accidentally uttering a racial slur against African Americans during an exchange during a hearing with the director of the House Office of Management and Budget White, Shalnda Young, who is black.
“So this Republican bullshit that it’s the tax rate that stops business investment, it’s just completely wrong from people who have never run a business, they’re not in it. never been,” said Trone, founder and co-owner of Total Wine. & More.
The wine and beer wholesaler later apologized in a statement saying it attempted to use the word “bugaboo” to attack Republican lawmakers for unreasonably criticizing President Biden’s tax proposals.
“When attempting to use the word ‘bugaboo’ during a hearing, I used an offensive expression. This word has a long, dark, terrible history,” Trone said.
“It should never be used anytime, anywhere, in any conversation. I recognize that as a white man I have privilege. And as an elected official, I have a responsibility for the words I use, especially in the heat of the moment. No matter what I wanted to say, I shouldn’t have used that language.
Asked by pollsters for their opinions on Hogan, Trone and Alsobrooks; only the former governor was viewed favorably by a majority of Maryland voters.
Sixty-three percent of registered voters in the state approve of Hogan, compared to 30 percent who do not and 5 percent who have no opinion.
Only 43% had a favorable opinion of Trone – including a slight majority of Democrats (52%) – but 24% had an unfavorable opinion and 29% declined to give their opinion.
Even fewer Maryland voters had a favorable (38%) or unfavorable (20%) opinion of Alsobrooks, 40% of whom said they weren’t sure what their opinion of him was.
Among Maryland Democrats, Hogan had the highest approval rating of the three, with 57% having a positive opinion of their former governor.
The top issues for at least three-quarters of state voters when choosing their candidate in the general election were, in order, crime and public safety, economic development and jobs, and taxes and public spending.
A majority of voters were optimistic about Maryland, with 43% saying the state is “heading in the right direction” and 40% saying it is “on the wrong track.”
But they were also divided, at 45 percent, on the state’s economic outlook.
Cardin, 80, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, announced in May 2023 that he would not run again after this third term.
The race to fill his seat is among the most competitive in the 2024 cycle, as Republicans seek to regain the majority in the upper house.
New York Post
