Despite her popularity and name recognition, the latest polls show Democrat Angela Alsobrooks leading Republican Larry Hogan.
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This is the most expensive U.S. Senate campaign Maryland has ever seen, but a new poll suggests efforts to wrest the seat from Democratic control may not be successful.
Democratic candidate and Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks remains the Republican candidate despite high favorability ratings and increased name recognition, according to a new poll released Wednesday by the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. He leads former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan by a margin of 48 to 39 (UMBC) Institute of Politics.
“Both candidates are viewed favorably, rather than unfavorably,” said Miraia Kromer, director of the UMBC Institute of Politics. “49% of likely Maryland voters have a favorable impression of Angela Alsobrooks, and 53% have a favorable impression of former Governor Larry Hogan.”
But Cromer said only 4% of voters aren’t sure how they feel about Hogan, and 19% are still unsure about Alsobrooks.
“When you combine the 20% of people who said they might change their mind with the very small number of people who are completely undecided, I think there’s some wiggle room,” Cromer said. Ta. “However, our poll shows Angela Alsobrooks up and within the margin of error.”
A Republican has not served as a senator from Maryland since the 1980s, and voter registration in Maryland favors Democrats by a roughly 2-to-1 margin. That seems to have a big impact on the results. The survey asked voters why they felt that way after they expressed a preference.
Regarding Alsobrooks, Cromer said, 46% of voters who support the county executive “like her or have a positive view of the Democratic Party or some of its policies. He expressed some opinion about it.”
However, 26% of her support is due to the nature of having the letter “D” next to her name on the ballot.
“They’re voting for Angela Alsobrooks because they don’t want Republicans in control of the U.S. Senate,” Cromer said.
Conversely, most Hogan voters support him because they really like him or have a positive opinion of the Republican Party.
“It’s not uncommon for people to vote based on party identity, because parties are based on what individual candidates will do in government, what they care about, and what they will promote and support. “It tells us a lot about the world,” Cromer said.
“The key lesson is how important control of the Senate has become as an issue in this race,” she added.
The poll also found that Hogan leads former President Donald Trump in Maryland by only about 4 points, with Vice President Kamala Harris trailing by a 57-35 point margin. Another 5% said they would vote for a third party, and 3% were undecided.
Also in November, Maryland voters will vote on whether to enshrine the right to abortion in the state constitution. According to the UMBC poll, voters support Question 1 fairly broadly, by a 69 percent to 21 percent margin in Maryland.
More than half (57%) of likely Maryland voters said abortion was a “major issue” to them, Cromer said.
“While ‘Question 1’ probably doesn’t get a lot of attention on its own, the issue of reproductive rights and abortion certainly does,” Cromer said.
Most voters said the most important issue to them was the price of everyday goods and services. Along with taxes and government spending, crime and public safety were also highly rated as issues of concern to voters.
The institute surveyed 863 likely voters over the last week of September. The margin of error is +/- 3.3%.
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