This week we are very pleased to be profiling a progressive candidate in a very competitive U.S. Senate race! The balance of power in the U.S. Senate is very evenly divided, so every democratic victory is crucial to ensure that our human rights, including bodily autonomy, health care, marriage, and the right to a clean planet, are upheld.

Angela Alsobrooks (she/her/hers) is the Democratic candidate in the U.S. Senate race for Maryland. Currently the Executive of Prince George’s County, the second largest county in Maryland, Angela was featured as the keynote speaker of this year’s Democratic National Convention! A prosecutor by practice, Angela has a long history of political action. She is most passionate about protecting citizens’ freedom to have autonomy over our own bodies, to live without the threat of gun violence, and for all American families to have economic opportunity to build generational wealth.

Angela Alsobrooks giving the Keynote address at the 2024 Democratic National Convention © Paul Sancya

Where are you based?
Prince George’s County

What is your position/what position are you running for?
I am running to be the next United States Senator from the state of Maryland. We know that the Senate Majority will be running right through Maryland. If elected, I will be that 51st vote that keeps our Senate blue.

How would you briefly summarize your platform?
I want a future where our freedoms are kept intact and our families can thrive. As the 51st vote in the Senate, I will fight for our freedoms — from the right to access reproductive health care to the right to access the ballot box. It is absolutely critical that we keep the Senate in Democratic hands. Our future depends on it.

What inspired you to run?
My mother was born in Seneca, South Carolina, and lived there until 1956. That year, her grandfather — JC James, who was my great-grandfather — was murdered. He was a person who had epilepsy and often had seizures. One day he had a seizure and was accused of being drunk in public by a Sheriff's Deputy. A white man stood up for him and said he was not drunk. “We know him. His name is JC James and he has seizures.”

This embarrassed the Sheriff’s Deputy and he said to my great-grandfather, “I am going to get you.” That’s exactly what he did. He saw him walking along the road on July 4th, 1956. He first shot at his feet and then in the abdomen and he died there on the side of the road.

The family went to the courthouse a week later, where it was determined that no crime had been committed. In fact, the family was told that if they didn't leave, they would kill the whole family.

A week later, my mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and several other family members went north to a place called Fairmont Heights, Maryland in Prince George’s County.

This story was conveyed to me by the incredible woman who led my family here, my great-grandmother Maebell James. She was born in 1897, was whip smart, and I had the privilege of growing up with her. It was her husband who was murdered. In fact, she lived until my first year in law school. And when she told me about what happened to her husband, my great-grandfather, she was never bitter. Instead, she told me that if you don’t like something, you go farther and do better. I’ve spent my entire life trying to honor those words.

What change are you hoping to bring to your district and country?
I want a better future where all families, including the families right here in Maryland, can thrive. I want American families to thrive economically, live safely, and be free from discrimination. This hope for a better future would be put at great risk with a Republican controlled Senate.

How long have you been in office (as PG County Exec)? What do you consider to be your major accomplishments so far?
Over five years now. In 2018, I was elected as the 8th County Executive for Prince George’s County. In winning that election, I became the first woman to serve as Prince George’s County Executive. Prior to my current role, I served as State’s Attorney for Prince George’s County for eight years, and also began my career as Prince George’s County’s first full-time domestic violence prosecutor.

I am proud of what I have accomplished in the last five years. My county has the second oldest school building in the state, and facing a $1 billion school construction backlog, I worked to put in place an innovative public, private, partnership to build state-of-the-art schools more quickly and at cost savings. I broke ground on 10 new schools in a two-year period, six of them through the P3 structure, and opened all six of those schools last year. This year, we are breaking ground on another eight P3 schools. I will have broken ground on, or opened, 18 schools in a six-year period for the benefit of our kids.

I am also proud to have fought to bring the new FBI Headquarters to Maryland. It’s a project that will have transformational and generational change for Prince George’s County and Maryland. Other companies will move here to be proximate to the FBI, like cybersecurity and technology companies, and I am so excited for the opportunities it will bring.

Those are just some examples, and I remain committed to continuing to deliver on the promises I made to Prince Georgians at the start of my administration.

What do you feel are the most important issues right now, why, and how do you plan to tackle them?
I was two-years-old when Roe was decided, and I never imagined my own 19-year-old daughter would be fighting for rights that should have been won by her grandmother. And what we know now is that it’s not just abortion rights that Republicans are trying to take away. It’s access to contraception. It’s access to IVF, and the privacy to make decisions about our own bodies.

That’s why we have to win this race. We need to preserve our majority in order to restore abortion rights nationwide, to protect access to IVF and contraception, and to stand up for women across this country whose freedoms are being gutted.

With current U.S. Vice President and Democratic candidate for the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election, Kamala Harris. © William J. Ford

America is extremely divided these days. How would you hope to bridge that divide with your constituents to better unite Americans?
I believe that most Americans want the same things.
Economic opportunity not just to get by — but to build wealth.
Safe communities to raise their families.
Good schools to receive a quality education.
The freedom to make our own decisions.

And what I know is that while yes, we need to focus on lowering the temperature in rhetoric, we need to also simultaneously focus on lowering the temperature with action. Leaders cannot just make empty gestures. We have to do the hard work of passing legislation that the vast majority of Americans want, that the vast majority of Americans need. If we invest in our communities, defend our freedoms, and fight for each other instead of against each other, we can and we will lower the temperature, bridge the divide, and build a more perfect union.

How do you see your unique identity and background to be an asset to you in office?
I am running for Senate because I want to be a voice for families like the ones I grew up with and who I’ve worked for throughout my life. I am the daughter of a receptionist and a newspaper delivery man. Stories like mine don’t often make it to the Senate, but they should.

Everybody should be able to look to their leaders and see themselves reflected, see their stories reflected, see their lived experiences reflected. It’s also notable because Maryland has a 10 person federal delegation. We have eight congressmen and two senators and all 10 are men. I believe when we have women at the table our policies are more complete.

I’ve never forgotten where I came from. And I know every day who I’m fighting for — the people of the great state of Maryland.

What is your motto in life?
My great-grandmother, Maebell James, would say if you don’t like something, you should “go farther and do better.” And at this moment, I am not discouraged. Because I still hear her words, and I know we have the ability not just to talk about how we feel, we have the obligation to take action and work toward the change we want to see. And in this moment, I have great hope and great confidence that we will continue to protect our rights and freedoms that we've come to enjoy. And we will do it together.

Where can we find out more about you?
Go to angelaalsbrooks.com and be sure to follow my social media @AlsobrooksForMD (FB, X, IG)

Our Favorite Progressive Candidates in 2024 - Angela Alsobrooks, U.S. Senate, Maryland