On Tuesday, August 13th, Maryland leaders held a roundtable in Baltimore City on the stakes of Republican Larry Hogan potentially being the 51st seat Republicans need to regain control of the Senate. Elected officials and community leaders discussed how Hogan could deliver the Senate majority to Republicans and help push forward an extreme agenda that includes banning abortion nationwide, caving to the gun lobby, crushing organized labor, and more.
Link to additional downloadable photos courtesy of the Maryland Democratic Party
Participants included Executive Director of the Maryland Democratic Party Karen Darkes, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, Delegate and Chair of the Baltimore City Delegation Stephanie Smith, Executive Director of Planned Parenthood Advocates for DC, Maryland, and NoVa Erin Bradley, President of the Metropolitan Baltimore Council AFL-CIO Courtney Jenkins, abortion rights advocate Wendy Frosh, and gun violence prevention advocate Cindy Camp.
“Larry Hogan is a proud, self-described ‘lifelong Republican’ who would turn control of the Senate over to Republicans. That’s why Mitch McConnell personally recruited Republican Larry Hogan to run, and that’s why Donald Trump endorsed Republican Larry Hogan just hours after meeting with Republican senators to discuss retaking control of the Senate,” said Executive Director of the Maryland Democratic Party Karen Darkes. “Republicans know Hogan could be the 51st seat they need to push forward an agenda that’s wildly out of step with Marylanders.”
“We know who Larry Hogan is. We know he will be that 51st vote to not just cater to the gun lobby, but to bow down to the gun lobby and continue to allow women, men, children, people across this country to be slaughtered when they don’t have to. We know exactly who he is, and we have to tell everyone who he is, so that we can do what we know has to be done: that we send County Executive Alsobrooks into the Senate…” said Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott. “We need a Senator who’s going to vote alongside the President and the Vice President to hold gun manufacturers [accountable], to put tougher gun laws in place, not someone who has shown time and time again in their previous job that they’re not willing to do that…we all know [if Hogan] gets [to the Senate], he’s going to caucus with the Republicans and vote alongside the Republicans.”
“When someone reveals themselves, you should believe them. Republican Larry Hogan, as all of my friends and colleagues have stated, has stood in the way of the expansion of abortion care and reproductive health. He has stood in the way of working people being treated with dignity and access to a fair wage. He has stood in the way of meaningful collaboration to combat violent crime. And he has stood in the way of just making government work for people…” said Delegate and Chair of the Baltimore City Delegation Stephanie Smith. “Republican former Governor Larry Hogan has already made it clear that he would caucus with Republicans, and he has also made it clear that he [could] be supportive of Senator Rick Scott of Florida becoming the majority leader. This is someone that has already stated an openness to slashing Social Security and Medicare. So I say to you, if we really want to elect someone who believes in government and giving people the best shot at life, I’m supporting Angela Alsobrooks.”
“If the Senate control were to switch to Republicans – we’ve heard Rick Scott, we’ve heard Lindsay Graham, those people would now [be] elevate[d] into even higher levels of leadership…” said Executive Director of Planned Parenthood Advocates for DC, Maryland, and NoVa Erin Bradley. “It ensures that they will get to enact their playbook, and we’ve already seen the strategies right. We’ve seen bans in Republican states, we’ve seen that. We’ve seen them use the courts and Republican and anti-abortion districts to try and chip away at the rights that they couldn’t just outright strip people from having. [The stakes are] increasing [Republican] leadership and giving more opportunities for them to test and fail and push and see what they can get until they get their ultimate goal of a nationwide ban.”
“Working people are holding the line, and what we must do is continue to hold on to the majority in the Senate. We see, we know, and we’ve had first-hand experience with then-Governor Hogan and his attempts to suppress the rights of working people at every step, whether it’s vetoing legislation or not standing with state employees or calling our public education educators ‘union thugs,’” said President of the Metropolitan Baltimore Council AFL-CIO Courtney Jenkins. “We also know that he will align himself with the Republicans in the Senate who are looking to continue the tax cuts for the ultra wealthy, while squeezing working people every chance he gets. And we’re here to fight back.”
“When the Maryland General Assembly passed the Abortion Care Access Act – which included equitable insurance coverage for abortion care, lifted outdated physician-only restrictions on providing abortion care, and established an annual training fund for qualified providers to add abortion care to their scope of practice – Hogan vetoed it. Fortunately, our legislature stood up and overrode that veto, but he withheld the training funds the legislation mandated. Those providers who were qualified and ready to train in abortion care and respond to the national health care crisis that was brought about by the Dobbs decision, those providers had to wait six months until Governor Moore released the funds the day after his inauguration…” said abortion rights advocate Wendy Frosh. “If Hogan, the man that Mitch McConnell recruited and Donald Trump endorsed, were to be elected to the Senate, he will definitely caucus with the Republicans and continue to put politicians in the exam room to interfere with medical decision making.”
“I work with a lot of women who have lost their children and fathers as well. And if you’ve ever heard a cry of a mother who’s lost her son or her daughter, it’s horrible,” said gun violence prevention advocate Cindy Camp. “So we have, we have to get to the point where we elect officials who are going to support the legislation for safer communities: banning assault weapons, and we have that in Angela Alsobrooks, and we definitely know we wouldn’t have that in Republican Larry Hogan.”
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