Earlier this year, I decided to seek the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate here in Maryland. I’m tired of seeing extreme politicians shut down good ideas in Washington. After working for President Barack Obama’s transition team and for U.S. Senator Edward M. Kennedy, I was looking to serve the people of this state who are seeking a new generation of strong but thoughtful leaders who break the mold, folks who are unafraid to compromise and lead by example.

Though my grassroots team and I tried my hardest to earn the support of Democratic voters, I did not gain the traction necessary to secure the nomination. So, now I’m doing something I really didn’t think I’d do this year — I’m endorsing Larry Hogan.

I, like many Democrats and Republicans, want to get away from the Trump era of lying, fearmongering, name-calling and blame-gaming — but that is exactly what Angela Alsobrooks has based her entire campaign on. Whether it’s on the right or the left, we have to call it like it is. This is one of those moments. Alsobrooks continues to lean on dark money, out-of-state groups to spend millions producing negative, fearmongering and blatantly false advertisements, lying about former Gov. Hogan and the eight years he spent serving in Annapolis.

From saying Hogan would be the 51st vote for the MAGA movement after spending the better part of his political career as the MAGA movement’s number-one Republican antagonist, to saying he would outlaw abortion after protecting it for eight straight years and never doing anything to impede abortion access, Alsobrooks has formed an entire campaign based on lies.

The only truthful ad I’ve seen from the Alsobrooks campaign is one that remixes interviews of Gov. Hogan saying “I’m a Republican” — you’ve probably seen it too. These quotes, taken out of context, are strung together and played like a propaganda reel.

What is this ad telling us? To me, it says Alsobrooks has no interest in representing folks who aren’t Democrats — which is something you need to do in the Senate to get anything done. She is telling us that there is nothing worse than being a Republican. What kind of message does this send to our neighbors? It’s the same hateful rhetoric being pushed by Donald Trump and his allies on the right.

We can’t afford to encourage more of the same broken politicking. To say the very least, I haven’t always agreed with Hogan on everything — I was hoping to run against the Republican nominee, after all. But I respect that Hogan has rejected his party’s extreme demands and always listened to Maryland voters. Hogan is authentic and genuine. His campaign is about Maryland voters. Angela Alsobrooks’ campaign is about Angela’s ambition. Gov. Hogan not only refused to accept Trump’s endorsement, he also stood up to him when he falsely claimed victory in 2020 and protected democracy from the insurrectionists on Jan. 6.

Unlike the MAGA wing of his party, Hogan is in favor of codifying abortion rights and banning assault weapons — measures Maryland voters have expressed strong support for. He also has a proven record of delivering on bipartisan compromise — Democratic governors said he was instrumental in developing the bipartisan infrastructure bill. Alsobrooks doesn’t even represent the whole state yet and she’s already lying to Marylanders. After watching this campaign strategy play out, I can only imagine what kind of senator she’ll be, and I never want to know. As President John F. Kennedy once said, “Sometimes, party loyalty asks too much.” For me, this is one of those times. And my namesake, President Kennedy’s brother U.S. Senator Robert Kennedy, said, “Some men see things as they are and say, ‘Why?’ I dream things that never were and say, ‘Why not?'” To my fellow Democrats, Larry is our Why Not, and our future leader in the U.S. Senate. We don’t need another “why” in Angela Alsobrooks.

Maryland needs Hogan in the U.S. Senate, and I have never been more proud to cast my vote for our former governor and Maryland’s next U.S. senator.

Robert Kennedy Houton is a former candidate who sought the Democratic nomination for the Maryland U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Bed Cardin. He lives in Bethesda.