Van Hollen warns about outside money for Boafo in congressional race

Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen is warning voters in the open 5th Congressional District race about the millions in special interest money backing state Del. Adrian Boafo.

The race is one of Maryland’s most competitive after U.S. Rep. Steny Hoyer announced earlier this year that he was stepping down following four decades in Congress.

Millions in super PAC money from groups tied to the cryptocurrency industry and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Van Hollen said, should concern voters in the district that covers parts of Anne Arundel and Prince George’s counties and all of Southern Maryland.

So far, the groups have spent $4.5 million in support of Boafo, Van Hollen said during a streamed news conference.

“Voters need to understand that these groups are not investing in this race out of charity,” he said. “They are spending because they believe the beneficiary of their spending, in this case, one candidate, Adrian Boafo, will be a dependable vote in support of their special interests.

“That is my warning. And my warning is ‘voters beware.’”

Voters should ask Boafo to release any questionnaires or communications he’s had with those groups, Maryland’s senior senator said.

Boafo did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The race features former Prince George’s County Executive Rushern Baker, state Sen. Arthur Ellis, retired U.S. Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn, and Prince George’s County Council member Wala Blegay, among two dozen candidates.

They are all vying for the seat vacated by Hoyer, who endorsed Boafo, his former campaign manager, in January.

Van Hollen did not endorse any candidate.

Van Hollen “enthusiastically endorsed” Baker when he ran for governor in the Democratic primary.

“In this race, we have a number of good candidates, strong candidates, and I have nothing against the individual who’s the beneficiary of all of this outside money, but I think voters need to be aware of the fact that these outside groups do not have the voters’ interests at heart, they have their own special interests at heart,” Van Hollen said. “I’ve not made a final decision on whether or not I will endorse [Baker].”

Van Hollen said the race was filled with a lot of candidates.

“Let these candidates fight it out within the 5th Congressional District without, you know, over 4 1/2 million dollars of outside special interest money flowing in on behalf of one candidate, Adrian Boafo,” he said.

Van Hollen’s opinion matters in Maryland among people who pay attention, says Niambi Carter, an associate professor in the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland.

Carter wondered why he decided to weigh in on this race.

“I don’t know that it’ll make any Boafo voters think twice about him,” Carter said, “but I would be sort of more curious about what his motives are for singling this candidate out.”

Carter lives in Prince George’s County and has been following the race. She referenced the chatter surrounding Boafo’s work as a lobbyist with Oracle. Today’s allegations by Van Hollen, combined with the other candidates raising objections over the ties with Oracle, are only going to create more talk, Carter believes.

“For people who are curious about Boafo and how he manages his political and his professional lives, I think these are ... legitimate questions to ask” Carter said, noting that not every candidate is a lobbyist.

Boafo spoke to The Banner last month about some of the concerns raised by his opponents.

“My job was to make sure that Black and brown communities, folks who look like me, have access to coding information,” he said. “I know they’ve got to run their race and they’ve got to do whatever they have to do, but my job is to be focused on voters while they’re focused on talking about me. This moment is too deeply serious for distractions like that.”

It’s not the first time Van Hollen has waded into a Democratic primary. The New York Times reported in November he is part of a small group of Democratic senators supporting primary candidates running against those recruited by Senate Democratic leadership. Last month, Van Hollen issued a similar warning about outside money paying for ads attacking a candidate in the Montgomery County executive race.

An outspoken critic of the Trump administration, Van Hollen is also a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. There he tried and failed to prevent the Trump administration from killing a plan to relocate the Federal Bureau of Investigation headquarters to Greenbelt.

He was also a leading voice in the long-running effort to prevent the deportation of Maryland resident Kilmar Abrego Garcia.

Van Hollen was elected to his seat in November 2016. Prior to that, he represented Maryland’s 8th Congressional District.