Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Angela Alsobrooks repeatedly questioned Republican opponent Larry Hogan’s core claim — that he can be truly independent of the GOP — in a debate Thursday in which he countered that “her entire campaign is based on lies.”

The 60-minute debate, which was alternately cordial and sharp-edged, centered largely on Hogan’s record — particularly on abortion — as a popular, two-term governor, and on his claim that he would not be beholden to the Republican Party.

“I’ll stand up to either party. I think we need mavericks in Washington who aren’t going to do exactly what the party bosses tell us,” Hogan said during the Maryland Public Television debate, the only one scheduled in the campaign so far.

Alsobrooks, the Prince George’s County executive who is making her first run at statewide office, countered by summarizing one of her campaign’s principal themes.

“Unfortunately former Gov. Hogan accepted an invitation by [Senate Republican leader] Mitch McConnell to run in this race because they want to give Republicans a majority in the Senate. Doing so will control Supreme Court justice nominations, will also control cabinet appointments for President Kamala Harris,” she said.

She later said of Hogan: “If he wanted to be an independent, he should have run as one.”

Alsobrooks, an attorney, and Hogan, who left office in January 2023, are vying for the seat of retiring Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin.

Democrats hold a 51-49 Senate edge. The party must defend a handful of seats in November in states that Democratic President Joe Biden narrowly won in 2020, plus three others — West Virginia, Ohio and Montana — won by former President Donald Trump, who is again the Republican nominee.

Polls have shown Alsobrooks leading Hogan by — or a little above — single digits.

Hogan sought to set a cordial tone as the debate began.

“I just want to start by saying that I like and respect Angela Alsobrooks. We got a chance to work together while I was governor,” Hogan said. “The reason I’m stepping up to run is not to run against her or to try to defeat her.”

He continued, saying, “The reason I decided to run for governor” before quickly correcting himself and saying “run for Senate.”He then said he is running because of his concern about “the direction of our country. What we see today is nothing but divisiveness and dysfunction in Washington.”

Hogan several times accused Alsobrooks of lying about his record, particularly on abortion.

“Her entire campaign is based on lies,” Hogan said. He said “everybody in Maryland knows” he protected abortion during his eight years as governor.

Alsobrooks referenced Hogan’s record, including his 2022 veto of legislation allowing nurse practitioners, midwives and other non-physician medical professionals to perform abortions in Maryland. After the Democratic supermajority in the General Assembly overrode his veto, Hogan declined to release $3.5 million in funds set aside for training additional clinicians to perform abortions in Maryland before doing so was required the following year.

“The Republican Party has declared war on women’s reproductive freedoms,” Alsobrooks said.

Hogan countered that she has mischaracterized his abortion record. He said he is in favor of restoring the precedent set by the landmark 1973 U.S. Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade as the law of the land.

Addressing his 2022 veto, Hogan called the bill “unsafe.”

“The bill you’re referring to was about protecting women because it was rolling back and making it less safe for women to get access to abortion. It was to change the law so that instead of just doctors and physicians assistants and nurses, we would let non-licensed professionals like midwives perform abortions. Now you can disagree with that — my position — but you can’t lie about and say I was denying access,” Hogan said.

“For you to lie about something as important as this issue, it really is insulting,” he said.

Alsobrooks also criticized Hogan for not signing a 2022 bill banning the possession and sale of untraceable “ghost guns.”

Hogan said he didn’t sign the measure because it didn’t do enough to hold criminals accountable, but it went into effect anyway because he did not veto it. Alsobrooks said the legislation showed Hogan wasn’t willing to lead on the issue.

Hogan referenced — mildly — Alsobrooks’ recent admission that she inadvertently claimed property tax credits she did not qualify for on a home she was renting out in Washington, D.C., that had belonged to her grandmother.

The homestead tax credit is supposed to apply only to a homeowner’s primary residence. Alsobrooks was also receiving a senior citizen tax credit that had applied to her grandmother and shouldn’t have continued when she assumed ownership of the northeast Washington home after her grandmother, who is now deceased, left about 20 years ago. Alsobrooks later sold the home.

Washington requires property owners to notify the city within 30 days if their home is no longer their principal residence — for example, because it has been rented out by the owner. On Sept. 30, the District of Columbia issued a bill to Alsobrooks — it totals $47,580 in back taxes and interest — to account for her receiving the credits, according to a copy obtained by The Baltimore Sun following a public records request to the Washington, D.C., Office of Tax and Revenue.

Alsobrooks said during the debate that she has paid back the tax credit and is working on paying back the interest.

“I always paid my taxes. Always. And I also stood up for my grandmother. When she needed to leave her house, I took over her mortgage,” she said.

Hogan’s campaign had previously said voters should not trust a candidate “who dodges their taxes.”

But asked during the debate about the significance of the issue to voters, Hogan replied: “I’m not sure it should matter.”

Earlier in the day, Time magazine published a story saying Hogan approved millions of dollars in competitive housing contracts to six developer clients of his real estate brokerage firm, representing “nearly 40% of the competitive affordable housing awards overseen by” Hogan during his tenure as governor. Richard Painter, a former White House ethics lawyer told Time the awards represented “a serious conflict of interest.” Time said Hogan declined to provide details of his relationship with the developers.

The issue did not come up in the debate.

The debate was moderated by Chuck Todd, chief political analyst for NBC News. Panelists included Jeff Salkin, news anchor with MPT; Alexis Taylor, managing editor at AFRO News; Deborah Weiner, news anchor at WBAL-TV in Baltimore; and Tracee Wilkins, investigative reporter at WRC-TV in Washington.

There was to be a five-hour gap between the end of the hour-long debate, which began at 1 p.m., and the taped broadcast, which was to be shown at 7 p.m. on MPT-HD and at the same time on WBAL-TV and WBAL-AM in Baltimore, and on WRC-TV in Washington, D.C.

Got a news tip? Contact Jeff Barker at jebarker@baltsun.com, 410-979-2052 and on X as @sunjeffbarker.