Yosefi Seltzer
This election season, the Maryland Jewish community has a rare opportunity to make a difference in the outcome. I’m not referring to the presidential race where Vice President Harris will cruise to victory if recent history holds — in 2020, Biden-Harris won by a 65-32 margin and in 2016, Clinton-Kaine outpaced Trump-Pence by a 60-34 margin.
The race we can decide who wins is the closely watched contest between former Gov. Larry Hogan and Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks. For several important reasons, the Jewish community should give careful consideration to choosing Hogan even if you vote for Vice President Harris.
Conventional wisdom suggests that Democratic-minded voters must vote for Alsobrooks to help the current Democratic majority hold the Senate. However, the worst kept secret in Washington is that the Democrats are resigned to losing their current 51-49 majority.
Republican West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice is comfortably leading the race to succeed retiring centrist Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin and former Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy leads incumbent centrist Montana Democratic Sen. Jon Tester. If those trends hold, the GOP will take over the Senate 51-49, and this doesn’t even count Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown’s uphill effort to get reelected in Ohio and five other seats in the key swing states that Democrats are attempting to hold. Even if Alsobrooks wins, she will be part of the minority. Being in the majority matters: to paraphrase the Hamilton musical: to have influence on the agenda, you must be “in the room where it happens.”
Turning to Maryland, there are several reasons why Jewish voters should choose Hogan.
First, the former National Governors Association chair will be a dealmaker who will have enormous influence as a leader who pushes for bipartisan solutions while relying on civility, common sense and bringing moral clarity to the issues of the day. Marylanders have a rare opportunity to elect a senator who will be independent, collaborative and collegial in the same vein as current and former Sens. Joe Lieberman z”l, John McCain, Mark Warner, Mitt Romney and Joe Manchin. Hogan’s peer centrist Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins have endorsed his candidacy and appear eager to welcome him to the centrist group that seeks to solve problems through compromise rather than acting like bots who simply repeat what their party leaders direct them to say. Don’t we already have too many undistinguished rank-and-file senators who generate lots of sound and fury but signify nothing?
Dating back to his two terms as governor, Hogan has demonstrated through his deeds that he is an unwavering supporter of security and enhancing trade with Israel and an ally of the Jewish community. A few quick examples: Hogan issued an executive order that prohibited government agencies from entering into contracts with businesses that boycott Israel; he championed the BOOST program that allocated 27% of its education grants to Jewish day school students; and he supported $5 million in anti-hate crime grants.
Closer to home, in the summer of 2020, when Montgomery County’s health officer attempted to prevent private schools from resuming in-person classes, Hogan swiftly and sensibly directed Secretary of Health Bobby Neall to overrule the county’s overreach, which enabled Jewish schools like Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School, Yeshiva of Greater Washington and Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy to return to normal while the public schools prolonged virtual instruction.
Hogan has spoken forcefully and unequivocally in support of Israel. He opposes conditions on Israel’s right to defend itself in the existential war it is waging and insists that Hamas must first release all the hostages and surrender as nonnegotiable preconditions to any peace talks. He was the first Maryland politician to oppose the Students for Justice in Palestine’s attempt to organize a demonstration at the University of Maryland on Oct. 7, 2024, which was instrumental in persuading the university’s president to rescind the permit. Clearly, Hogan feels an affinity for the Jewish community in his kishkes.
Turning to his opponent, Alsobrooks publicly stated she would consider withholding offensive weaponry; supports a cease-fire without any preconditions such as releasing the hostages or Hamas surrendering; and has already demanded a new partner other than the democratically elected government of Israel. Her words sound indistinguishable from Sen. Chris Van Hollen, who she has declared is her mentor. Since Oct. 7, Van Hollen has become an anti-Israel, hostile voice that has advocated for an ultimatum that would cut off military assistance to Israel among other criticisms. Question: isn’t one Van Hollen enough for Maryland?
The bottom line as Jewish voters head to the polls is whether to support Hogan — who has been a stalwart friend to Israel and the Jewish community — or alternatively, roll the dice with an unknown candidate who is already echoing the anti-Israel views delivered to her by Van Hollen, her declared mentor. In the midst of antisemitic attacks on college campuses and anti-Israel rhetoric in Congress, this is precisely the time we should support our community’s longtime friend, Gov. Hogan. He has proven that he will be an experienced bipartisan consensus builder who will have influence as a dealmaker, while bringing menschkeit and a desperately needed tone of civility to Washington.
Yosefi Seltzer is a lifelong Silver Spring resident and a member of the Jewish Community Relations Council Board of Directors. The views expressed herein are his own.
