David Trone, the Total Wine and More co-founder, has largely self-funded his expensive Senate bid.
MARYLAND, USA — The spending spree continues in Rep. David Trone’s (D-MD) campaign to beat out Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks for the Democratic nomination to Maryland’s open Senate seat. The latest campaign finance data reveals an even more staggering financial disparity than earlier in the race.
A WUSA9 analysis of campaign finance data reveals Trone’s bid to replace Sen. Ben Cardin has been fueled by a campaign war chest nearly 10 times bigger than challenger, Alsobrooks. The most recent Federal Campaign Finance shows Trone has spent $51,413,130 on the primary election; Alsobrooks spent $5,875,228 — difference of more than $45 million.
Trone, who got rich as co-founder of the national chain Total Wine and More, is primarily self-funding his campaign. Alsobrooks is running on grassroots campaign donations and funding from Political Action Committees (PACs).
When WUSA9 spoke with Alsobrooks in March, she said the lopsided finances have impacted how she’s run her race.
“We didn’t have the money to go up on air last year,” the county executive said. “So, we had to plan it and to be careful to make sure we’re communicating at a time where people are listening and receiving the messages we’ve seen the results have been tremendous.”
Alsobrooks has upped her spending in recent months, hitting local TV with a number of different campaign ads.
In March, Trone’s campaign declined an interview with WUSA9, but wrote in a statement that Trone’s decision to self-fund his campaign “gives him the independence to listen to the people of Maryland, not special interests.”
Polling data has Trone with a comfortable margin heading into the primary election on May 14.
“While Alsobrooks has obviously been massively outspent, she has been able to strategically spend her limited resources in the final weeks, including using it to highlight her support among state leaders like Wes Moore,” said Bredan Glavin, deputy research director at Open Secrets, which studies campaign finance.
Open secrets reports self-funding candidates were some of the biggest losers in the 2022 election cycle, with only two out of the top 10 self-funding candidates winning.
One of them, however, was David Trone, who won his seat in Congress.
Fromer Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, who’s vying for the republican nomination in the same race, has spent just $1,289,904 on his campaign so far, although he is running largely unopposed in the Republican primary.
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