Former Maryland GOP Governor Larry Hogan is leading his Democrat rivals by double digits, according to the results of a new survey on this year’s race in the deep blue state for the seat held by retiring Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD).
The Washington Post-University of Maryland poll found voters say they would support Hogan over Rep. David Trone (D-MD) — 49% to 37% — if the election were held today. Voters similarly backed Hogan over Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks, 50% to 36%.
Despite the positive results for Hogan, 55% of voters said they would like the Democrats to maintain control of the U.S. Senate while 35% said the same for Republicans. Another 11% had no opinion or skipped the question.
Which party controls the Senate after November’s election remains a very open question. Democrats currently lead the chamber with 48 seats and three independents who caucus with them. Republicans are the minority party with 49 seats.
The Cook Political Report put at least three races this year, including two where Democrat incumbents are seeking re-election, in the “Toss Up” category. When Hogan entered the Maryland race in February, the group shifted the race from “Solid D” to “Likely D.”
Another takeaway from the new poll was just how much better Hogan performed, even among Democrats, when it came to favorability. The survey found 64% of registered voters gave Hogan a favorable rating; 61% of registered Democrats did the same.
“I am always humbled by the support of Marylanders, but make no mistake, we are the underdogs in this race,” Hogan said in a statement posted to X. “The partisan politics in Washington will do anything they can to stop us.”
He added, “Washington is dangerously broken. We need your help to fix the broken politics and send a message to Washington that will be heard loud and clear across the country.”
Trone’s favorability among registered voters was 33% and 43% among Democrats. Alsobrooks got 26% among registered voters and 35% from Democrats. Voters seemed least familiar with Alsobrooks, as more than 50% had no opinion or otherwise skipped the question for her.
The Democratic Party’s primary in Maryland is scheduled to take place on May 14. Most registered Democrats told pollsters they would likely vote, and in a face-off, Trone bested Alsobrooks 34%-27%. Another 39% picked no opinion or skipped the question.
The survey was conducted by Braun Research of Princeton, New Jersey, using a random sample of 1,004 registered voters who were contacted by phone March 5-12.
A PDF on the poll said overall results have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.3 percentage points and 4.5 percentage points among registered Democrats.