Hogan and Alsobrooks will meet for the first and only debate in the U.S. Senate race in Maryland

Republican Larry Hogan and Democrat Angela Alsobrooks will face off Thursday in the first and only debate in the highly anticipated U.S. Senate race in Maryland.

The show is hosted by Maryland Public Television and hosted by NBC News senior political analyst Chuck Todd.

Hogan and Alsobrooks are running to replace Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin, who is retiring.

“Larry Hogan is in a bit of a difficult position in this debate,” said Ian Anson, a political science professor at the University of Maryland Baltimore County.

Anson noted that Hogan is behind in recent polls.

“His goal will likely be to distance himself as much as possible from the national political context and from Trump in particular,” Anson said. “It’s really those moderate voters and even some of those moderate Democrats that he needs to win over.”

No Republican has held a Maryland seat in the U.S. Senate for nearly 40 years. If Hogan wins, Republicans would almost certainly claim the majority in the U.S. Senate, where Democrats currently hold a 51-49 edge.

Anson said Hogan’s strategy could be to focus on his record in the Old Line State, particularly “the economic perception in Maryland and how his role in the Senate could help people struggling with high prices.”

That could be a challenge for Hogan in deep blue Maryland, where Democrats outnumber Republicans by a 2-to-1 margin.

“The broader issue here is that the national political context is somewhat inescapable and particularly something that Alsobrooks will be happy to talk about,” Anson said. “Hogan needs to get at least some Democrats on his side to be successful.”

With the momentum seemingly on Alsobrooks’ side, Anson said she will likely try to stay on the positive side and avoid harsh criticism of Hogan.

“The interesting thing about taking the lead in a debate like this is that being negative is probably not a good strategy,” Anson said. “Trying to stay away from these oppositional politics and just talk about their own record and their own ideas for the future is probably the best idea.”

Alsobrooks may be playing a bit of defense in light of the recent history that she abused tax breaks she wasn’t eligible for, including a tax break for low-income seniors. This allowed Alsobrooks to save thousands of dollars in taxes on two properties she owned in D.C. and Prince George’s County.

“I’m very interested to see whether Hogan brings this up as a topic of discussion and whether he pursues Alsobrooks in this regard,” Anson said. “I think it depends on how desperate the Hogan campaign is.”

Alsobrooks said she was unaware of the issue and plans to pay back the taxes she owes.

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