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Maryland鈥檚 current junior senator, Chris Van Hollen, was in Silver Spring on Tuesday morning to endorse Prince George鈥檚 County Executive Angela Alsobrooks in the Democratic primary to join him in the U.S. Senate.
The unusual move comes months before the candidate filing deadline in the race to succeed Sen. Ben Cardin (D), who .
Van Hollen said it didn鈥檛 take him long to decide that Alsobrooks is the best choice to join him on Capitol Hill.
鈥淚n a field of strong candidates, Angela Alsobrooks is a standout,鈥� Van Hollen said. 鈥淎nd I base that on our long-time working relationship. I鈥檝e had a chance to see her in action day-by-day, in good times and in bad times. And I also know because of that experience what moves her. I know her heart. And I know that she鈥檒l be a great progressive partner in fighting for all the issues that Marylanders care about in the United States Senate.鈥�
Van Hollen chose Alsobrooks over a current colleague in the state鈥檚 congressional delegation, Rep. David Trone (D-6th). Another top Democratic candidate in the race is Montgomery County Councilmember Will Jawando (D).
Candidates have until Feb. 9 to officially file campaigns.
Van Hollen lauded Alsobrooks for her local response to the COVID-19 pandemic, her 鈥済oal of building a dynamic, inclusive economy that works for everyone鈥� and for being 鈥渢remendously successful鈥� at working with federal lawmakers on transportation projects and other federal investments.
鈥淲hat moves her is her passionate commitment to address the real-world challenges being faced by her fellow Marylanders in their daily lives and her determination to do everything in her power to help working families succeed. As the single mom of a teenage daughter and the caretaker of two aging parents, she relates directly to the struggles being faced by so many Maryland families,鈥� Van Hollen said. 鈥淪he understands the conversations happening at kitchen tables around our community, around our state and around our country.鈥�
For her part, Alsobrooks called Van Hollen an 鈥渁mazing partner,鈥� friend and mentor.
鈥淲e both care deeply about delivering for the people that we represent, and few people do it better than Senator Van Hollen,鈥� Alsobrooks said. 鈥淚t is what we care about every single day, we recognize that there are people who rely on us 鈥� hard working families in Maryland, throughout our country, who rely on us every single day, to ensure that the issues that are of concern to them at their kitchen tables are the issues that are of concern to us as well. That each of us want to live in communities that are safe. We want true economic opportunity for all of our family members, for our children. To have access to health care. To have democracy defended. These are all of the values that we share in common.鈥�
Alsobrooks was earlier endorsed by two other members of Maryland鈥檚 congressional delegation: Reps. Steny Hoyer (D-5th) and Kweisi Mfume (D-7th).
