Alsobrooks was an early believer in Mississippi’s blue turn

Long before the rest of the country realized Mississippi was in play for Senate Democrats, Sen. Angela Alsobrooks knew.

Scott Colom could turn out to be the election’s biggest upset if he maintains the narrow lead he holds over Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith in the deep red state.

Alsobrooks campaigned for Colom starting in June. She’d called him and decided to go all-in, making her way to Mississippi and talking him up to other Democrats.

The Maryland senator has her former campaign operations director, Gerard Henderson, to thank for the tip. After working for her, hereturned home to Mississippi and become Colom’s campaign manager.

Henderson “knew all the challenges involved in my race, so he reached out and said, ‘I have a really amazing candidate. He’s not getting any attention,’” she recalled in an interview.

Alsobrooks made history two years ago, becoming Maryland’s first Black senator. She said she wanted to help usher in a wave of Black candidates within what shaped up as a blue wave this election.

She also supported Juliana Stratton in her successful U.S. Senate run in Illinois in June; hosted fundraisers this August in Martha’s Vineyard, including one for the Democratic National Committee; and in October stood with Black politicians and beside incoming Michigan Sen. Abdul El-Sayed in that state.

Alsobrooks’s support of Stratton went against the grain of some Congressional Black Caucus members. But she said she was confident in her convictions, regardless of pushback.

“When I believe in someone, I’m all in,” she said. “Regardless of what seems popular or what everyone else is doing. I believed in Juliana, and I knew she could win.”

Alsobrooks’s efforts speak to an unprecedented moment for Maryland politicians — particularly Black ones, according to Karen Miller, one of the state’s few Black women political fundraisers.

Gov. Wes Moore was the country’s only Black governor until Tuesday, and the state also includes rising star Black local leaders like Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott.

Miller believes these elected officials have star-like qualities that make them sought-after figures with the ability to influence momentum in crucial races.

In July, Moore went to Georgia to canvass for Keisha Lance Bottoms as she made her historic bid for governor. He headed to Nevada to help campaign for Aaron Ford in his successful bid for governor. Scott also joined Moore for a virtual “call to action” this September for Bottoms.

Glynda C. Carr, president and CEO of Higher Heights for America PAC, an organization that supports Black women running for office, said Alsobrooks’s backing of Stratton and Colom “demonstrated both political courage and a commitment to building a stronger, more representative democracy.”

“We have to keep opening doors and creating opportunities for the next generation of Black leaders,” Carr said. “She’s helping build the bench of leaders who will shape our nation’s future.”

In Mississippi, Alsobrooks and Colom held an event together at a church. She also hosted a Divine Nine event. That’s a network of nine historically Black fraternities and sororities.

“I knew right away when I got on the ground that the issue in Mississippi was not that Scott Colom could not win. All the numbers were in his favor,” Alsobrooks said.

The Democratic Party lost the statewide election by 26,000 votes in 2024, and African Americans comprise 40% of the state’s population.

“Scott was a really terrific candidate,” Alsobrooks said. “But I sensed right away that the problem with Mississippi was that they had a belief problem.”

Alsobrooks said she felt that seeing a U.S. senator on the ground campaigning for Colom might make voters believe.

When Alsobrooks returned to Maryland, the second part of her work began. She said she urged other members of the Democratic Party to get behind Colom. Her outreach included Moore, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and fellow U.S. Sens. Raphael Warnock of Georgia and Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware.

Alsobrooks describes herself as a person of faith and an “extreme optimist.” But even she admits she was shocked by how successful Democrats were this midterm cycle.

The Maryland senator said she wants to see a return to political decency and said Democrats will “work hard to repair the things” that Republicans have broken.

“We have a clear plan about how to do it, which is to go first to medical, the healthcare cuts and other things,” she said, “but it is going to take some time to repair the damage that was done.”