BALTIMORE — Rep. David Trone, a white Democrat, knows the path to winning a Democratic nomination in Maryland goes through its Black voters.
“All of my elections, I’ve always done fantastic in minority areas, because so much of what I stand for is people who are left behind,” said Trone, a three-term congressman from not far outside Washington, who became lavishly wealthy operating a national chain of discount liquor stores.
That wealth has allowed Trone to spend an eye-popping $57 million of his own money to try and trample his opponent in Maryland’s Democratic U.S. Senate primary — who happens to be a Black woman.
The May 14 contest between Trone, 68, and Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks, 53, has put an uncomfortable spotlight on race for a party that prides itself on elevating women and people of color.
Alsobrooks is overwhelmingly backed by the state’s top Democrats, including Sen. Chris Van Hollen and Maryland’s Black governor, Wes Moore, who called her a leader with “vision and intention.” But Trone, the founder of Total Wine & More, is spending boatloads to convince Maryland’s diverse electorate (nearly a third of the state’s population is Black) that he’s the progressive outsider and underdog.
Trone has argued that “diversity is absolutely fantastic” while also telling voters to “leave color behind” and choose the best candidate.
That pitch, delivered via more than two dozen unique TV ads, seems to be working, based on the very limited public polling of the primary. But it’s still enough of a wild card that both candidates are sweating the outcome.
Trone argues his money, which he made over the course of three decades as he grew Total Wine & More from a small family business, frees him from the pressures of special interests. And he’s promised that if he wins the nomination, he’ll continue to tap his fortune to fund his campaign against Republican Larry Hogan, the state’s ultra-popular former…
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