Rep. David Trone (D-MD) has lent over $54 million to his Maryland Senate campaign, Federal Election Commission filings show.
The filings, which cover through April 24, are a window into how Trone, a wealthy businessman who founded and co-owns the retail company Total Wine & More, is hoping that his fortune will earn him a seat in the upper chamber. Trone assumed office in the House in 2019 and has since faced controversies this election cycle over an apparent discrepancy with his financial disclosures and usage of a racial slur during a congressional hearing.
Trone is running in the Democratic Senate primary in Maryland against Angela Alsobrooks, a black woman who is executive in Prince George’s County, the second-most populous county in the Old Line State. Alsobrooks is endorsed by various lawmakers, including Sens. Chris Murphy (D-CT), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD).
Trone is the favorite in the primary and likely to face off in the general election against ex-Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican who was found in an April poll to be 13 percentage points ahead of Trone among likely voters in a potential head-to-head.
Behind Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), who spent over $63 million of his own cash in 2018, Trone is the second biggest self-funder in a Senate race. Trone’s finances could also land him into trouble, however.
The House Democrat may have violated the law by not disclosing his stake in Indiana Fine Wine & Spirits, tax experts told the Washington Free Beacon in May.
During a March House Budget Committee hearing, Trone notably came under fire for using the derogatory word “jigaboo” while the lawmaker was referring to corporate tax cuts. Jigaboo is “an insulting and contemptuous term for a black person” and was first used around 1909, according to the Oxford English Dictionary.
“While attempting to use the word ‘bugaboo’ in a hearing, I used a phrase that is offensive,” Trone said in March. “That word has a long dark terrible history. It should never be used any time, anywhere, in any conversation. I recognize that as a white man, I have privilege. And as an elected official, I have a responsibility for the words I use, especially in the heat of the moment. Regardless of what I meant to say, I shouldn’t have used that language.”
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Trone’s opponent, Alsobrooks, has raised $7.8 million and reported $1.9 million cash on hand in her campaign finance report filed on Thursday.
The primary is May 14.
