Alsobrooks 2024 Maryland Senate
The Maryland Senate Primary was described by Politico as the “most contentious” Senate primary of the 2024 election cycle. In a crowded field of 10 candidates ranging from elected officials to business leaders, two emerged as clear leaders–Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks and Congressman David Trone.
Empower joined the Alsobrooks team in January of 2024, when polls at the time showed her trailing Congressman Trone by 11 to 20 percent. Her team was determined to run a strong campaign and was actively searching for ways to build a robust, data-informed field program. That’s where Empower came in.
Empower Project helped the Alsobrooks team design a first-of-its-kind relational organizing program where Marylanders talked directly with the people they care about the most. Across the state, voters connected with their friends and family, building a trusted community around key issues, allowing the Alsobrooks campaign to share her message and build her movement.
“Our volunteers loved using the Empower app and we loved the impact from our Empower program.”
Using the Empower app, volunteers spoke with their communities about the issues that matter to them most and engaged in social sharing to organically amplify her message. In corners of the state where voters are rarely contacted by campaigns, volunteers also used Empower’s distributed canvassing feature to canvass, allowing them to knock on their own time without having to travel to a campaign office.
Her campaign knew that campaigns should layer their modes of contact because voters need multiple touchpoints, and they understood that relational organizing is a cost-efficient, effective way to reach and move voters.
Angela Alsobrooks climbed in the polls, closing a 20 point gap and winning the Democratic Primary with 10.57%.
In the general election, she faced former Republican governor Larry Hogan. Hogan left office as one of the most popular governors in the country, and early polling showed Hogan in the lead. Alsobrooks’ relational program only grew over the course of the spring, summer and fall, reaching deeper into hard-to-reach communities across Maryland. Empower provided training and strategic support to her program, making sure that her organizing team had the assistance they needed to maintain and grow her relational organizing program.
Her relational program reached thousands of voters across the state, and was a key piece of the puzzle that helped her secure a 11.8% victory, becoming the first Black woman to serve as senator for the state of Maryland.
