MARYLAND MATTERS: Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks (D) shook up the senior leadership team of her U.S. Senate campaign Tuesday, parting company with a highly touted national Democratic strategist and bringing in high-level operatives with ample experience in Maryland politics.
The developments come as recent public and private polls on the May 14 Democratic Senate primary have shown Alsobrooks slightly trailing her principal competitor, free-spending U.S. Rep. David Trone (D-6th).
Trone, a wealthy businessman, has already spent upwards of $10 million of his own money on the campaign, paying for a steady stream of TV ads throughout the state as well as slick mailers to targeted segments of the Democratic electorate, often boasting of his progressive policy priorities.
Although Alsobrooks has racked up dozens of endorsements from Maryland political leaders, including Gov. Wes Moore (D), Comptroller Brooke Lierman (D), U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D) and the dean of the state’s congressional delegation, Rep. Steny Hoyer (D), several political professionals have privately fretted that her campaign has at times lacked focus and a compelling message — despite her own compelling life story. Many Alsobrooks supporters were caught off-guard when the teachers’ union, the Maryland State Education Association and its parent organization, the National Education Association, opted to endorse Trone earlier this fall.
The Alsobrooks campaign said Tuesday that it is replacing campaign manager Dave Chase with Sheila O’Connell, a veteran national political strategist who lives in Maryland and helmed Van Hollen’s first Senate campaign through the 2016 Democratic primary. Chase previously worked as campaign manager for the 2022 Senate campaign of then-Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio), who lost a high-profile battle but exceeded expectations in a Republican state.
In a statement, Alsobrooks credited Chase for getting the campaign off to “a strong start,” for helping her post solid fundraising totals and for coordinating the support of dozens of powerful Maryland Democrats.
“I want to sincerely thank Dave for sharing his gifts and talents with us, and getting our campaign off to a strong start,” she said. “As we move into the election year, we are excited to continue to move this grassroots campaign forward and meet Marylanders where they are as we approach May 14.”
O’Connell has long been a member of Alsobrooks’ kitchen cabinet and now steps in to the leading role on Alsobrook’s campaign. Most recently O’Connell has been working at McKenna Media, a national Democratic firm that helped get a sports betting ballot measure passed in the state, and also worked to elect Lierman as comptroller.
O’Connell has also been an adviser to numerous other candidates in Maryland, including now-Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller (D) when she was defeated by Trone in the 2018 Democratic congressional primary. O’Connell helped run President Obama’s campaign here, and is a founding board member of Emerge Maryland, the organization that recruits, trains and promotes Democratic women running for office. She is taking a leave of absence from her job at the media firm to run Alsobrooks’ campaign.
Joining O’Connell on Alsobrooks’ revamped campaign leadership team:
- David Sloan, who has worked most recently with Alsobrooks in the county’s executive’s office, as director of policy, planning and public affairs, becomes a senior adviser. A lifelong Marylander, Sloan has also been executive director of the Maryland Democratic Party, director of the Maryland No Kid Hungry Campaign, a special adviser in the O’Malley-Brown administration, and a member of the state field organizing staff for the 2008 Obama campaign.
- Yvette Lewis, who recently stepped down as chair of the Maryland Democratic Party, will also become a senior adviser.
- Rachel Winfield will be digital director. She most recently served as digital director for the campaign of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) and also served as social media manager and digital content specialist for Whitmer in the governor’s office.
- Jordan Hinds will become state political director. He most recently served as state political director for the Maryland Democratic Party and previously was campaign manager for Prince George’s County Councilmember Wanika Fisher (D) in 2022.
- Nick Meier will be the campaign’s state organizing director. He previously served as mobilization director for the Iowa Democratic Party, and recently served as senior department manager for Organic Social Media at Battleaxe Digital.
While Alsobrooks was retooling her campaign operation, Trone this week was touting endorsements from the top three Democrats in the U.S. House, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.), Minority Whip Katherine Clark (Mass.), and Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (Calif.). While the trio has no tangible political pull in Maryland, the campaign said the endorsements illustrate Trone’s effectiveness in Congress and his ability to work with a diverse set of political leaders.
“Having the support of the ENTIRE Congressional Democratic Leadership is a massive vote of confidence in our campaign’s vision for a brighter future,” Trone said in a social media post.
Trone has noted during public appearances that he has been a top donor to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the House Democrats’ campaign arm. According to data compiled by the website Open Secrets, which tracks money in politics, Trone has since 2017 given at least $1,943,924 to the DCCC, Democratic candidates for the House or political action committees controlled by House Democratic leaders. That figure does not include contributions to the Democratic National Committee or state political parties.
Trone is also attempting to gain some holiday good will by taking political leaders and party activists to the movies. According to an invitation obtained by Maryland Matters, Trone is sponsoring an advance screening of the new “The Color Purple” film at The Charles Theater in Baltimore on Friday afternoon. State Sen. Jill P. Carter (D-Baltimore City) and former Del. Cheryl Glenn (D-Baltimore City) are among those listed as hosts for the event.
