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♪ ♪ Connecting Marylanders to their government.

This is ""State Circle"."

>> Jeff: Welcome to "State Circle".

We begin this week with a civil but illuminating debate in the race for Maryland's U.S. Senate seat.

It was held yesterday at MPT.

>> I've been a supporter of common sense gun legislation.

I'm for universal background check.

I have always done everything possible to keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill and out of the hands of criminals.

I will support a bipartisan commonsense assault weapons ban.

>> There is an opportunity I would be in favor of eliminating assault weapons and removing ghost guns from our streets and the reality is the former governor didn't have the courage as a governor.

He in fact vetoed legislation that would have created a waiting period for long guns and outright refused to sign the ban on ghost guns.

>> When I ran for governor, I promised to provide access to abortion that would do nothing to change law.

That's exactly what I delivered on for eight years.

Everybody in Maryland knows that when five or six years ago I said Roe was the correct decision.

When it was overturned, I said it was the wrong decision and I said when I get to the Senate, the very first vote that my first bill I will sponsor is to codify Roe.

>> The fact of the matter is, when former governor had an opportunity to stand up for the women of Maryland, he didn't.

He voted abortion care legislation, he doubled down and refused to release the funding to train abortion care providers.

This was just two years ago.

When the Supreme Court overturned Roe, he then went out and complimented them.

♪ ♪.

>> Jeff: Joining us now retired Air Force general John Teichert, who backing Larry Hogan and Maryland Democratic Party chair Ken Ulman, who of course, is backing Angela Alsobrooks.

Thank you both for your time.

I haven't seen ratings data yet.

I'm sure it is going to be at least 100,000 Marylanders who saw maybe for the only time the two candidates side by side.

I'll start with Mr. Ulman, what do you think they took away from this debate?

>> You know, I thought it was a great conversation and Jeff thanks for having us for this conversation as well.

Thanks for MPT hosting the debate.

I thought it was a great conversation.

I think folks got to see Angela Alsobrooks at her best.

Her command of the issues.

As a former county executive in Howard county I've watched the job she has done as county executive in Prince Georges county.

More companies have been started in Prince Georges County than any other jurisdiction in the in the state and crime is down.

Quite frankly, the contrast they really saw is what Larry Hogan going to Washington as a Republican, pledging to caucus with the Republicans, what that will mean not just for Washington politics sake but frankly what it means to Marylanders.

We know that Marylanders are going to send or vote strongly or we believe, for Kamala Harris to be the next president of the United States.

If you believe Kamala Harris should be the next president of United States, it is important for her to get things done and Democrats in control of the U.S. Senate is important for that agenda.

>> Jeff: General Teichert, your takeaways from the debate.

>> Jeff, I think the moderator and panelists did great last night.

Thanks for keeping folks on track and covering a large swath of issues.

I was a little confused because I thought Angela Alsobrooks thought she was debating Mitch McConnell, not the trusted, proven independently minded leader of Larry Hogan.

And I'm a little concerned that she mischaracterizes who he is, what he has done for eight years, as somebody that Marylanders love and trust and how he plans to roll up his sleeves and break the dysfunction in Washington D.C. instead of carrying it on that I believe she will do if she becomes our Senator.

>> Jeff: Does she have a point if Mr. Hogan is so independent, why isn't he running as an independent or why isn't he saying he is going to show up on Capitol Hill as an independent?

>> Jeff, I think he sees himself-- and these are his words not mine-- as an old school classic conservative, a Reagan-like conservative.

And he couldn't see himself walking away from the party of his childhood.

But when you look at his record, you see that he does work with a variety of people to solve the problems that people really care about.

And I did find it interesting that Angela Alsobrooks talked a lot about being a prosecutor but very little about the secure record she has as county exec in Prince Georges county in part because we see spikes in crime and a withering of the American dream in that county she doesn't want to talk about.

>> Jeff: Two very different pictures being painted there Mr. Ulman.

Either 50% drop in crime or crime out of control.

Which is it?

>> Well, you know, I spend a lot of time in Prince Georges county and I can tell you there are new businesses starting every day in the county.

In fact more new businesses than any other jurisdiction in Maryland.

I have been at this long enough to know that folks on all sides can pick whatever statistic they want to help their story.

The fact is that crime is down in Prince Georges County.

Larry Hogan called her a great county executive when he was governor and she was county executive.

But I think the issue John touched upon, the part about Mitch McConnell is a big part of the conversation because the ads you see running on television hammering Angela Alsobrooks are funded by the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Mitch McConnell's committee, and also a separate group funded by billionaires including Harlan crow, the same guy who bought Clarence Thomas' rv so he could run around the country.

The same guy funding adds attacking Angela Alsobrooks because Mitch McConnell asked him to and that's relevant to this conversation and something the voters should decide when they go to the ballot box.

>> Jeff: General Teichert, I'll let you talk about the ads, but I just read there have been at least $60 million spent on little old Maryland and a Senate race here, which might have been pretty surprising a couple of years ago.

>> Well, Jeff, I think it's great that we are on the electoral map, and we have a chance to have chance to have an oversized say once Larry Logan becomes our next United States Senator.

You know Larry Hogan can't control PACs that run ads and neither can Angela Alsobrooks but I find this panel a metaphor that the party boss is supporting and talking about Angela today with you and I.

And it is a concerned citizen and proven leader supporting him.

I think if you look at the dishonesty in how she has characterized him as something that he is not, then it is shameful and I actually think there was a commentary in the Baltimore Sun last Sunday from Lieutenant Colonel Paschal, a lifelong democrat who said he is appalled by the dishonesty he sees coming not out of the PACs that support her but coming out of her mouth as she mischaracterizes who Governor Larry Logan is.

>> Jeff: Give us an example.

>> I think all of the discussion about him aligning with MAGA Republicans, him being the 51st vote, and him being a non-abortion supporter are all things that are blatant mischaracterizations of where he stands.

I think that he has an opportunity to put Maryland back on the map not just during the election, but when he is a U.S.

Senator, because she is just going to caucus and do everything that the democrat party bosses tell her to do.

When she was given that question yesterday about whether there was anything that she would disagree with in the democrat platform, it was a deer in the headlights moment.

I think that's an example of someone who is so aligned with party bosses that she will not be able to represent Marylanders well and he has an independent streak that frustrates Republicans and Democrats and that's exactly what we need.

>> Jeff: Ken, your turn but let me jump in for a second because I had the privilege of sitting closer than anybody to the two candidates.

I didn't see a deer in the headlight moment but I saw a key moment and she didn't distance herself from anything in any way and it makes you wonder if she has the far easier task in this election as running as a conventional democrat while Mr. Hogan is trying to do a tight rope walk.

>> I think that's true.

Maryland is still a blue state, although Governor Hogan was elected twice by the citizens of Maryland and served as governor.

So this is a real competitive election.

But we know that Marylanders want to send Kamala Harris to be our next president of the United States.

They believe in her agenda.

They believe in what she is going to do to uplift our economy and make sure that everyone has the freedoms in this country, especially women, that now have less freedoms than their mothers or grandmothers.

And that is an important message to Marylanders.

So the fact is when Kamala Harris has the opportunity to be president of United States, we see what happens when Mitch McConnell and Ted Cruz are in charge.

They don't give Barack Obama a vote on Merrick Garland for the Supreme Court.

And by the way, what I saw last night was I saw Larry Hogan get frustrated that the adds take his own words and share them with the voters of Maryland.

So he, in fact said Donald Trump Supreme Court nominees were terrific.

He said that.

People I know get frustrated when their own words are shown back to them sometimes.

He did in fact veto abortion legislation and then withheld the funding.

It was on governor Moore's very first day on office that he released the funding.

That's why Planned Parenthood and other organizations have endorsed Angela Alsobrooks.

This is just a difference and I understand the former governor is frustrated to have his own words shown to the Maryland people, the voters of Maryland.

But that's what this election is going to be about the next 24 days and people have a lot to think about as they decide who to vote for.

>> Jeff, I think you are right that Governor Hogan is walking a tight rope in this election and walking that tight rope successfully for eight years as governor in the State of Maryland.

I think it is fascinating to consider his eight-year record where, as a super majority on the other side and the house of delegates in the Senate, he was able to see successes take place in the government of Maryland that improved the lives of Marylanders, not because he was a Republican or a democrat, but because he is a pragmatist that is just looking to solve problems.

And I think when he goes to the United States Senate, you will find that the states that have those leaders that are not aligned with party bosses, are the ones that see more success for their state.

The example I like to give is this, $280 billion chip act that got passed a couple of years ago, gave $280 billion to build semiconductor factories all over the country except almost nothing here in the great State of Maryland.

That's because they could take the democrat votes and caucus for granted because they're perfectly aligned with the Democratic Party.

That's not governor Larry Hogan.

He is going to be in the mix of every single debate and every single vote in the Senate and that will be advantageous to Marylanders from top to bottom throughout the time of his tenure.

>> Jeff: I don't know if I can do this in a minute.

I'm running short on time.

The super PAC ads, the anti-alsobrooks adds are focused on some tax benefits, real estate tax benefits that she received but wasn't entitled to and is paying back.

Is that, John, first, a big deal, the amount of money gone into that, is that potentially going to move some votes?

>> Jeff, I think he was very magnanimous in telling the voters that it is up to them to decide whether that's something that is going to turn the needle in their vote.

I do think her dishonesty about his characterization is the thing that should be moving the needle.

And I hope that's what Marylanders consider as they think about trusted, proven independently minded Larry Hogan.

>> Jeff: Mr. Ulman, the last word.

>> Yeah, just to jump in.

On that issue she was very clear.

She came in to rescue her grandmother's house from going into foreclosure.

Paid the mortgage, paid the bills.

Didn't realize she had a tax credit.

As soon as she found out paying it back.

The voters of Maryland have a lot to decide and frankly which party do they want to control the U.S. Senate, which party do they want to control the Supreme Court, and that's really what is on the ballot.

And frankly we got a good spirited debate.

I enjoyed this conversation this morning and 24 days to go.

>> Jeff: Our thanks to Mr. Ulman and general Teichert.

With mail-in voting under way and early voting about to start, should voters be concerned about the security of their ballots?

Here is MPT's Sue Copin.

>> Our goal is to make sure your vote has integrity.

The moment you cast it to the moment you count it, we want nothing to happen to it.

>> Reporter: Nancy Scala, co-director of Towson University's empowering secure elections research lab is helping to lead a three-year study along with the University of Maryland into the vulnerabilities of voting machines.

>> We want to make sure the risk is minimized and the integrity of the vote maintained.

We find this is really important for the health and safety of our democracy.

And it is also just a public service as well to our country and our community.

>> Reporter: The goal of this Department of Defense funded project, to catch problems before they arise.

>> We are looking at one particular piece of equipment that puts 70% of the country used to tabulate their votes and to see what are the actual possible threats to it; and how can we develop policies or training procedures to minimize those threats.

>> Reporter: Josh Dehlinger says this study is a followup to another conducted in 2009.

>> We are essentially looking at that existing risk assessment, identifying threats that have emerged since then or threats that they have missed in trying to provide a more complete risk assessment along with acknowledging that boards of elections in some states don't have as much money as they should to maybe defend or protect some of these systems.

We are going to try to provide insight into what are the threats that are most concerning and where they should be maybe directing their efforts to prevent such things from happening.

>> Reporter: The importance of this study not lost on the students helping with the research.

>> There are so many vulnerabilities possible on each step of the way that it's a positions of trust that we place in our poll workers.

And we shouldn't take that trust for granted.

And we should also ensure that everybody who is involved in the election process is going through some sort of vetting, training or possibly even some kind of briefing for security.

>> It's really important to have these systems secured just to protect our democracy, make sure no foreign interference or domestic interference is happening.

>> Reporter: Maryland state Boards of Elections adminstrator Jared Demarinis say studies like this one are key to battling mis and disinformation.

>> I would say this is paramount right now in our situation because of how critical this information has, I would say, permeated the American psyche about the electoral process.

And so these types of studies help, you know, battle back a lot of that.

And provide facts rather just innuendo.

>> Reporter: And Demarinis says the public also has a role to play in helping with efforts to catch potential problems.

>> If a person that sees it can then report it to us, then we can then combat it, you know, through those avenues.

And I think that's kind of a different approach now.

It's more collective, that we are all in this together in this fight.

>> Reporter: I'm Sue Copin for ""State Circle"."

>> Jeff: They may be too young to head to the polls but the upcoming election has students engaged and learning about the issues.

Nancy Yamada reports.

>> I want to have a say in who my president is going to be.

>> Reporter: 17-year-old kyonna roster among the students at Merganthaler vocational-Technial High School in Baltimore, who wish they could vote in this upcoming election but many were happy to learn they can register to vote when they're 16.

They're in the pipeline eagerly waiting to cast their first vote.

>> Voting is the way to get peopl, young people and old people involved in local communities and local events and things of that nature.. >> It makes me feel like I have a voice and I can like have a say so in something that's bigger than me.

>> Reporter: With only two-thirds of eligible 18 year olds registered to vote in Maryland, organizations like Maryland civic education coalition, black girls vote, and the League of Women Voters are doing what they can to close the gap.

>> We are really, really known for our non-traditional ways of doing community engagement and education.

So like today we are here at Merganthaler High School and we have downtown locker room who is partnering with us and sponsoring with us with music and doing giveaways and things like that for students and answer trivia questions about voting.

>> Reporter: Volunteers from League of Women Voters say high school voter registration drives are a great opportunity to not just encourage civic engagement but also teach students what it means to be an informed citizen.

>> Our voter guides are giving information about the ballot issues because voting is local.

So we know we have the presidential election, but we also have the house and the Senate.

There are seats.

One of the most important races in Maryland right now is the senatorial race.

>> Reporter: Lois Mosely is a government teacher at Mergenthaler High School and the first Vice President for Baltimore's League of Women Voters.

She spends much of her time helping students understand why politics matters.

>> What does it mean to be a democrat or Republican?

What does the Senate do?

Why is voting important?

Because judges are being elected.

The ballot issues, which are actually costing the city thousands of dollars, they are important.

So we are trying to give them more information to make them more informed citizens.

>> Reporter: For students... >> Some issues are important to me.

I can say violence.

>> Reporter: The same themes come up time and time again when asked what issues are important to these Baltimore teens.

>> No drugs are number one.

Drugs play a huge part in contributing to like-- I can say teens, like a lot of death and addiction in teens.

>> Gun violence, that's like a really big issue, especially in like Baltimore city.

>> Kids are bringing guns to school.

Like people are getting hurt.

People are dying.

>> Reporter: Harsh realities the many hope will lead to an engaged and enlightened electorate in their communities and in the futre at the polls.

I'm Nancy Yamada for ""State Circle"."

>> Jeff: Our newsmaker this week, veteran political pollster Mileah Kromer, now the director of the UMBC institute of politics, thank you for being with us.

You released new polling this week.

The headline number in alsobrooks-hogan is Alsobrooks by 9; is that correct?

>> Right, Thank you for having me.

We took a close look at that senatorial head to head between the county executive and the former governor and what we find is that Angela Alsobrooks right now has 48% of voters.

If they voted today, would vote for Alsobrooks, whereas about 39% would vote for former governor Larry Hogan.

The rest are either undecided or say they're going to be voting for another candidate.

And among those, and I think this is probably the important part, anybody who selected a candidate, so either Hogan or Alsobrooks, we asked if they could change their mind, if they were sort of set.

About 20% of folks indicated they could still change their mind.

>> Jeff: And I wonder about that because I think you were in the field, as you guys say, before the big barrage of super PAC ads, supporting Hogan by attacking Alsobrooks on the issue of real estate taxes.

Do you think that potentially makes a difference?

>> Maybe.

And so that's a really good point.

Just polls are a snapshot in time and we were in the field from September 23 to the 28th.

And so that was right as that news was breaking.

But before I think a lot of the ads had come.

I'm not entirely sure what kind of impact that will make.

I do know that this election contest is certainly really nationalized.

And Alsobrooks campaign has really tried to frame this entire election of not just a race between Alsobrooks and Hogan but a race between Alsobrooks and a Republican Senate majority.

And our poll suggests that is resonating with folks because we followed up with people who said they were intending to vote for Alsobrooks.

We asked why.

The plurality of folks indicated because they liked Alsobrooks or liked the Democratic Party.

A full 25%, about a quarter of the people said that they were voting for Angela Alsobrooks specifically on the issue of control of the Senate and moreover, when we asked about that issue directly, 55% of Marylanders say they would like to see Democratic control of the U.S. Senate.

That's, in a lot of ways not surprising given what we know about the Maryland electorate.

About 55% of registered voters in the state are Democrats in Maryland.

>> Jeff: Let's look at where there may be some room for movement.

You did some detailed work on the favorability ratings for both candidates.

And on Angela Alsobrooks, favorable was at 49, unfavorable at 32 and certainly that's positive.

No opinion was 19.

So there are some persuadables out there, I guess.

>> Yeah, there are certainly some voters who don't know enough about Angela Alsobrooks just yet to decide if she is viewed favorably or unfavorably.

The former governor continues to have a pretty strong favorability rating but it has been decreased a little bit.

If you remember during the eight years of Hogan in office, I did a ton of polling.

He averaged around 65% job approval rating and that number sort of, as a favorability rating stayed consistent even after he left office.

Angela Alsobrooks has certainly been one of the few Democrats who has been able to sort of knock Hogan down a little bit.

Keeping in mind he is still popular, so he is going into this election with a pretty strong approval rating.

Another big issue I think to think about is one of his areas that he has been particularly good at is talking about economic issues, and those types of things.

And economic issues are still really top of mind for a lot of Maryland voters.

But it's really sort of that contest has been nationalized in such a way that a lot of voters are thinking about control of the Senate.

And that's because of all the outside money and because of the messaging of the Alsobrooks campaign.

>> Jeff: Snapshot on approval of the current governor, Wes Moore.

Definitely in positive territory, not quite Hogan territory yet.

>> Yeah, but he-- I have long said this.

Wes Moore is sitting at a pretty solid approval rating.

More people approve than disapprove which is where you want to be as a governor.

The difference between Wes Moore and Hogan is party affiliation.

Larry Hogan needed to have a really strong approval rating to have any like big power against, you know, when working with the General Assembly, it really gave him a lot of leverage.

Wes Moore shares the party of the overwhelming super majority of the Maryland General Assembly so he, with this 80% of approval rating among Maryland Democrats is a good place for him to be.

Moreover it's clear to me he is a popular figure in Democratic politics.

And you have seen him as a surrogate now for the Harris campaign.

And again it's no wonder he is very popular among Democrats.

>> Jeff: Our thanks to Mileah Kromer of the UMBC Instiute for politics.

A program note, MPT will bring you four days of mars maryland 5 star coverage starting next Thursday, and we will kick off the coverage with a "sports desk" Monday night right after "Direct Connection."

Here is a preview.

>> Now why is the sport of eventing the ultimate test of both the horse and the rider?

>> The sport actually originated from a cavalry test to get horses and ariders ready for battle and subsequently turned into an Olympic sport.

And now it's on the worldwide stage.

So it really tests the skills of horse and riders to become one.

So, you have the Dressage phase, which is really like figure skating for horses judged on technical merit.

And then you have the cross-country to showcase endurance, agility and then culminates with show jumping, again, so that it really gets the horses and the riders together to be as one so they could be ready for battle in the past.

But now it's a sport.

So it's pretty exciting.

It's like the iron man competition for horses.

If you have never seen it before, it's something else.

>> Can you talk about some of the other fun events for families at the event?

>> Sure, we have something for everyone.

I think each day we are featuring a different special event.

So we have a Maryland fresh food fest on the Sunday of our event along with the course as you mentioned earlier, the American corgi cup which has become unbelievable popular in itself.

We have 125 corgis lined up with a waiting list on Sunday and on Saturday we have tailgating, we have beer, wine and spirits festival.

We also have a dog rescue parade.

So there are all different types of things that people can do.

But one of the best highlights of the event is you can do your shopping.

We have over 100 retailers out there offering all kinds of products and services.

So if you want to just get your holiday shopping in, you can come to our event and you can find a wide variety of offerings.

So we have something for everyone.

And you can bring your dog.

So the whole family is welcome and it's very dog friendly event and we will also have pony racing.

Lots going on.

>> Jeff: Tune in Monday night at 7:30 for the MPT Sports Desk and our Mars Maryland 5 star coverage begins on Thursday.

Go to MPT.org/Maryland5star for all the information.

And that's ""State Circle"" for this week.

Thank you for watching.

We'll see you back here Monday evening at 7 p.m. for "Direct