3 weeks ago
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A super PAC supportive of Republican Maryland Senate candidate Larry Hogan is airing a new ad targeting Democrat Angela Alsobrooks over a recent CNN report that she improperly received tax breaks on her properties.
“This economy has been hard on our wallets, but not on Angela Alsobrooks,” says a narrator in the 30-second ad, which is being launched by the pro-Hogan super PAC Maryland’s Future and was first shared with The Hill.
“CNN reports she dodged at least $16,000 in property taxes, illegally taking tax deductions she didn't qualify for. She even took a benefit meant for low-income seniors,” the narrator adds.
“But Alsobrooks wants us to pay more, including higher Social Security taxes,” the narrator says, citing a questionnaire in which the Senate candidate answered “yes” to a question around whether she supported raising the Social Security payroll tax cap.
“Angela Alsobrooks: higher taxes for you, illegal tax breaks for her,” the ad's narrator concludes.
A source with Maryland’s Future noted that the group has placed a total of $19 million in ad reservations through Oct. 28.
CNN reported earlier this week that Alsobrooks had improperly received tax breaks on two properties. Alsobrooks saved at least $2,600 from a homestead exemption on property she bought in Prince George’s County that she later rented out, according to the network.
CNN also reported that tax exemptions geared toward senior residents and primary residents offered a tax break of close to $14,000 on a Washington, D.C. property.
Alsobrooks’s campaign told CNN that her lawyers were working to address both tax exemptions, and she had been unaware of them.
Alsobrooks campaign senior advisor Connor Lounsbury told CNN that the Senate candidate paid the mortgage on the Washington, D.C. property after her grandmother moved out, adding that those payments continued until the property was sold in 2018.
Lounsbury noted to CNN that Alsobrooks was unaware of tax exemptions pertaining to the Washington, D.C. residence and had contacted the city to handle the situation.
“The bills weren't sent to me. They were actually sent to my grandmother,” Alsobrooks told reporters on Monday. “And you know, I was paying, just paying through the mortgage company, but the bills in D.C. weren't sent to me. They were in someone else's name, so I didn't know, because they weren't sent to me.”
Lounsbury also told CNN that Alsobrook ended up owing more over another property of hers in Prince George's County because the homestead exemption had not been transferred.
"She ended up paying more in taxes than she would have had the credit transferred over. Nevertheless, Angela is working to repay any credits received on the old property," he said.
The campaign also noted to the network that Alsobrooks has been supportive of easing tax burdens on residents, with CNN citing, for example, her signing a property tax credit for elderly residents in 2022 as county executive.
New reporting from WJLA on Tuesday suggested there were contradictory details to Alsobrooks’s account regarding her Washington, D.C. property. The TV station reported that the deed had been in her name for over 10 years, during which time she had taken out several mortgages and improperly received tax exemptions on them.
In an interview with WMDT News, Hogan called the CNN reporting "concerning" while noting he didn't know all the details.
“I need to look into it. For someone who’s talking about raising taxes on hard-working people at the federal, state, and local level, to have not paid her own taxes is something that she’s going to have to answer for," he told the news outlet.
The new ad comes less than 50 days out from the November election as the race for an open Maryland Senate seat comes down to the wire. An aggregate of Maryland surveys compiled by Decision Desk HQ shows Alsobrooks leading Hogan, roughly 50 to 40 percent.
Hogan’s unexpected entry into the race has forced Democrats to spend in what was considered to be an easy election for the party in November.
At the same time, it’s an uphill battle for the two-term governor. The nonpartisan election handicapper Cook Political Report rates the open seat “likely Democrat.”
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