Report: Dem Senate Candidate ‘Not Beholden’ to Corporate Interests, Lobbyists, Despite Flood of Money from Lobbyists

A Democrat Senate candidate in Maryland, who has claimed she is “not beholden” to corporate interests or lobbyists, has reportedly received a wave of donations from lobbyists and other corporate officials.

Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks (D) has received more than $260,00 in donations from lobbyists for 2024, including those who represent fast food, pharmaceutical, aerospace, defense companies, big tech, finance, and telecommunications companies, according to an analysis of data from the U.S. Senate’s Office of Public Records conducted by Open Secrets.

The Open Secrets analysis of the data from the U.S. Senate Office of Public Records includes donations from lobbyists between January 1, 2024, and March 31, 2024.

Alsobrooks claimed in a post on X from April that she was not “beholden to large corporate interests” and was running to put voters first.

“I am not independently wealthy,” Alsobrooks wrote. “I am not beholden to large corporate interests like Big Oil, Big Pharma, or the Big Gun Lobby. I am running for Senate to reject big corporations and put you first.”

Among the lobbyists who were listed as having donated to Alsobrooks’s campaign was Christopher Randle, a U.S. Policy Director at Meta and a lobbyist for Meta. Donation records showed that Randle had donated $7,100 to Alsobrooks’ campaign.

Mike McKay, the CEO, Founder, and Managing Partner of Empire Consulting Group, was also among the list of lobbyists who had donated to the Alsobrooks campaign. McKay had a list of clients consisting of American Airlines Group, Bank of America, Charter Communications, Fox Corp, Verizon Communications, and Vertex Pharmaceuticals.

Data showed that McKay had donated $6,600 to the Alsobrooks campaign.

Other lobbyists on the list included Jeff Forbes, a founding partner of the Forbes Tate Partners. Forbes’ clients consisted of AstraZeneca PLC, the Coalition for Cannabis Policy, Education and Regulation, Peloton Interactive, and RTX Corp, also formerly known as Raytheon. Data showed that Forbes had donated $5,800 to the Alsobrooks campaign.

Nicole Venable, a lobbyist with Invariant LLC was also among the list of lobbyists. Venable’s clients consisted of Apple Inc., McDonald’s Corp, Workday, Inc., and FedEx Corp. Data shows that Venable donated $5,000 to the Alsobrooks campaign.

Mary Beth Stanton, another lobbyist with Invariant LLC was shown to have donated $3,300 to the Alsobrooks campaign. Stanton’s clients included H&R Block, Home Depot, RTX Corp, and SpaceX.

Other donors who had contributed to Alsobrooks’ campaign were David Cohen of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, Jameel Aalim-Johnson, the associate vice president of government relations for Nasdaq, and Lacy Johnson of Taft Law Firm, among many others, according to Politico. Johnson had served on the transition team for President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, according to the Taft Law Firm website.

Michael Williams, the founder, and president of the Williams Group, was also among the list of people who had donated to Alsobrooks’ campaign. Williams had also “served as Special Assistant to the President and Staff Director for Legislative Affairs during the Clinton Administration,” according to the Williams Group website.

Alsobrooks, who is set to face off against former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) in November, received 294,317 votes, or 52.8 percent of the vote, against her primary opponent on the Democrat side, Rep. David Trone (D-MD). Trone, the co-founder of Total Wine & More received 241,203 votes, or 43.3 percent, despite having spent $62 million of his own money on his campaign.

On the Republican side, Hogan received 167,744 votes, or 63.3 percent of the vote, while his opponent Robin Ficker received 76,124 votes, or 28.7 percent of the vote.