Maryland voters will cast their ballots for Democrat Angela Alsobrooks or Republican Larry Hogan in the state’s consequential U.S. Senate race on Tuesday.

Though multiple polls show a lead for Alsobrooks, who is in her second term as Prince George’s County executive, Hogan’s bipartisan message and his popularity as a two-term Republican governor have helped him close the gap in an overwhelmingly Democratic state.

Here’s where the candidates stand on key issues:

Affordability

Alsobrooks: She attributes the rising cost of living to large corporations, which she said are making record profits and paying fewer taxes. She wants to cut taxes for the middle class and will not raise them for anyone who earns less than $400,000 annually.

Hogan: During the Maryland U.S. Senate debate in October, Hogan said that “inflation is out of control.” He supports federal grant funding reforms to encourage local governments to do away with regulations that suppress housing construction, aiming to make homeownership more accessible.

Abortion

Hogan: In a spring interview with the New York Times, Hogan said that he is in favor of restoring the precedent set by the landmark 1973 U.S. Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade, and that he would vote in favor of the ballot question to enshrine access to reproductive health care — including abortion — in Maryland’s constitution in November.

He previously said that it is “not necessary” to enshrine abortion access into the state constitution but that he would not vote for a federal ban, if elected.

Hogan also vetoed abortion access legislation during his second term as governor. During the debate, he said the bill “was rolling back and making it less safe for women to get access to abortion” because it allowed more medical professionals beyond doctors, like nurse practitioners, nurse midwives, physician assistants and licensed certified midwives, to receive training to provide those services.

The Maryland General Assembly overrode Hogan’s veto, allowing the law to go into effect.

Both Alsobrooks and Hogan have said that, if elected, they would sponsor a bill to codify Roe v. Wade.

Alsobrooks: She’s campaigned as a champion for reproductive freedom, including birth control, IVF and abortion care. She has been endorsed by Emily’s List, Planned Parenthood Action Fund and Reproductive Freedom For All.

Gun control

Alsobrooks: She supports an assault weapons ban and a ban on unserialized firearms, or ghost guns. She is also in favor of universal background checks and banning bump stocks.

Hogan: He said the federal government has a role in reducing gun violence. He supports universal background checks and “a bipartisan, common-sense assault weapons ban.” He also plans to sponsor a bill to require that resource officers be placed in every high school in the country.

Health care

Hogan and Alsobrooks: Both candidates said, if elected, they would fight to protect health care cost saving measures under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, including allowing Medicare to negotiate with drug corporations over prescription costs, capping the price of insulin at $35 for Medicare recipients and, beginning in 2025, installing an annual $2,000 ceiling for enrollees’ prescription costs.

Israel

Alsobrooks: Regarding Israel’s war against Hamas, she said there is “an obligation” to return the remaining hostages to their homes and families while achieving a cease-fire and providing aid to Palestinian civilians.

“We’ve got to get to a two-state solution so that we have peace and security in Israel, [and] peace, security and self-determination for the Palestinians in Gaza,” she said.

Hogan: If elected, he said he would be “a champion for Israel.”

“We, as a country, have to stand with our allies, and Israel is our most important ally,” he said.

Ukraine

Hogan: He has said that he would support Ukraine in joining NATO. Alsobrooks said “it’s a complicated question” that “should be explored.”

Alsobrooks: She said if the U.S. does not support Ukraine, it will embolden Russian President Vladimir Putin to invade other countries in Eastern Europe. Hogan agreed.

Immigration

Alsobrooks: She favors reform and supports the creation of a citizenship pathway for people already living and working in the United States and protecting the rights of DREAMers.

Hogan: He is in favor of reforming immigration and border policy, including updating the asylum process, increasing the number of border protection agents and sending them more resources, and the appointment of more immigration judges.

U.S. Supreme Court

Hogan: He said the court should not be politicized and that “trying to change the rules to jam things through on a party-line vote” is not what he believes should be done.

Alsobrooks: She said she is “very concerned” about the current makeup of the U.S. Supreme Court and thinks the justices “no longer represent the will of the people.” She is supportive of reforms, including term limits and court expansion.

Senate control

Alsobrooks: She said Hogan will be a conduit for handing over control of the chamber to the Republican Party. She said his election would give the GOP control of U.S. Supreme Court appointments and those for the next president’s executive cabinet.

“What we know is that, no matter what former Governor Hogan says …, he would empower a caucus of people who will take our country backwards,” she said.

Hogan: He said, if he’s elected, focusing on party lines is not part of his agenda, and, while other Republicans have celebrated the overturning of Roe v. Wade, he will support legislation to codify abortion rights.

“The people know that I was a bipartisan governor who got things done by working with a 70% Democratic legislature,” he said. “I’m not a MAGA, Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell kind of person.”

Have a news tip? Contact Hannah Gaskill at hgaskill@baltsun.com, 410-320-2803 and on X as @hnnhgskllalso.