Tennessee’s Justin Pearson rallies Black Maryland voters at Senate candidates climate forum

During Tuesday’s Energy Summit, three of the candidates — U.S. Rep David Trone, Angela Alsobrooks and Marcellus Crews — discussed environmental and economic injustice, and how those issues relate to public health.

Tennessee Rep. Justin Pearson believes that “even in this toxic air,” there is still “a whiff of freedom.” Why? “Because somebody resisted,” he said.

“Anytime America has inched closer toward its promise of fulfilling its ideals has been because African American and Black folks have pushed it to be so,” Pearson told a largely Black crowd in Linthicum Heights Tuesday. “We know about freedom because we had to fight for it and died for it … we know about liberty because we suffered for it. This is our country.”

Pearson, a Democrat, gained national attention last year after participating in a protest calling for greater gun control on the Tennessee House floor, something he and another legislator were quickly expelled over. Having since regained office and, in doing so, become a symbol of resistance, Pearson was invited to be the keynote speaker Tuesday at the Caucus of African American Leaders’ 2024 Energy Summit.

The event served as a platform for U.S. House and Senate candidates to discuss the ways in which climate crises affect the state’s most vulnerable communities. But with Pearson’s address, it also became a rallying cry for Black citizens to engage in this year’s elections — to save the country from “becoming something that is unrecognizable.”

“We must be intentionally conscious about the world that we inhabit, the climate, the environment and the democracy that we will one day leave behind,” Pearson said.

On May 14, minority voters may play a critical role in what has quickly become one of the most hotly contested races in Congress: the replacement of Ben Cardin in the U.S. Senate.

Until February, the position seemed to be a shoo-in for the Democrats, who hold a 51-49 majority in the U.S. Senate. An easy win in Maryland would have allowed the party to focus on defending other critical seats and offsetting the one they’ll likely lose following West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin’s retirement. However, the last-minute addition of former Republican Gov. Larry Hogan to the race has placed greater scrutiny on whomever the Democrats select in the primary.

During Tuesday’s Energy Summit, three of the candidates — U.S. Rep. David Trone, Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks, and Marcellus Crews, a small business owner — discussed environmental and economic injustice, and how those issues relate to public health.

All three participants support accessible health care and, if elected, said their intention is to build upon the programs in the Inflation Reduction Act, which allocates billions of dollars toward climate initiatives.

Although they agreed on many of the issues, like establishing clean energy and infrastructure, the candidates relied on their personal and professional backgrounds to distinguish themselves in the race.

Alsobrooks, who has received endorsements from much of the Maryland political establishment, including Gov. Wes Moore and U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, said the difference in her experience was implementation.

Unlike the Republicans, who she said, “do not believe in science,” Alsobrooks said her time atop Maryland’s second largest county has demonstrated her commitment to the environment. While in office, the second-term Prince George’s County executive has invested over $1 billion in stormwater management programs, converted much of the county’s fleet into electrical vehicles and implemented a popular composting program for residents.

“We’ve done a lot to work with climate and this is something that I’ll continue to do as the next senator,” Alsobrooks said. 

Crews, a tech executive from Upper Marlboro, said it would be important for a senator to develop relationships between small businesses and nonprofits to engage the community in environmental decision-making. He said young people could earn certifications that would enable them to work in the clean energy industry, which could help bring change faster.

“We are working with a lot of groups, but we see that we bump up against government,” Crews said. “We bump up against needing that resource to be able to break out and do big change, big moves that our young people desperately need.”

Trone, co-owner of an alcoholic beverage retail chain who has served three terms in the U.S. House, is separated from others in the race through his current role as a member of Congress and his largely self-funded campaign. Though Alsobrooks, who has called her own campaign a “grassroots” effort, has criticized the role his money has played in the primaries, Trone said it separates him from corporate interests and the influence of political action committees.

“The system is broke,” Trone said Tuesday, “and it’s broke in favor of Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Exxon. That’s what we have to go after. We have to beat them.”

One way to do that, he said, is with initiatives like the Inflation Reduction Act. Trone commended the Biden administration for passing the legislation but said there’s a difference between enacting a law and executing it.

“We have to fight like the dickens,” Trone said, referring to the energy use goals outlined in the bill, “because there are folks that are not with us.”

According to an April 16 poll conducted by The Baltimore Sun, Fox45 and the University of Baltimore, Alsobrooks has a slim 39% to 35% lead over Trone among Black voters in the primary.

Across the state, Trone leads Alsobrooks 48% to 29%, while Crews has 2% of the overall Democratic vote, the poll shows.

Twelve percent of the Democratic voters polled said they were undecided.

The primary election is May 14, and the general election is Nov. 5. Early voting in the primary begins Thursday and goes through May 9.