Angela Alsobrooks is running a breakthrough campaign in Maryland’s U.S. Senate race and is poised to make history because the state’s first Black senator if elected. With a distinguished background in public service – she served as Prince George’s County State’s Attorney for eight years before being elected twice as county executive – Alsobrooks now intends to bring her experience to Congress, where she could be one among the few Black women to ever serve in that role.

The latest poll from the University of Maryland’s Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement (CDCE) shows her a robust double-digit lead over her Republican opponent, former Gov. Larry Hogan. In October, Alsobrooks polled with 52% of likely voters, compared to Hogan’s 40%, and Libertarian candidate Mike Scott was polling at lower than 4%. Despite Hogan’s intense promoting campaigns, Alsobrooks’ advantage has continued since September. “The overall margin is about the same,” CDCE Director Michael Hanmer said, as each side give attention to influencing undecided voters in this high-stakes race.

This race could determine party control of the U.S. Senate, making issues like abortion and economic policy more essential than ever. While more Maryland voters now view Hogan because the stronger candidate on economic issues, Alsobrooks has significant benefits on health care and reproductive rights, topics that widely share her views. CDCE data suggests her comments in regards to the Senate’s role in protecting reproductive rights resonated with many citizens in Maryland, something analysts say Hogan struggled to rise up to.

Alsobrooks’ campaign is historically significant: If elected, she would turn out to be Maryland’s first Black female senator and one among the few Black women to serve in the Senate in its 235-yr history. “People like me don’t get to the Senate, and we should,” Alsobrooks emphasized in her speech on the Democratic National Convention in August, calling attention to the systemic barriers Black women face in reaching high political office. “We only chose two [Black women] for the Senate and has only won three seats so far, so it was a joy to get on that stage and represent so many people whose voices I felt were underrepresented in the Senate. And it was a great moment,” she told ESSENCE about her speech.

The historical context is important: Carol Moseley Braun was the primary Black woman elected to the Senate in 1992, followed by Kamala Harris in 2016. In 2023, California’s Laphonza Butler became the third Black woman in the Senate, appointed to finish Dianne Feinstein’s term. he doesn’t intend to run for the complete term. If Alsobrooks is successful, she could join Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware, who can also be running for Senate, and together they might potentially transform the Senate with historic levels of black women’s representation.

Alsobooks told ESSENCE that her journey into public service was inspired in part by Kamala Harris, then the district attorney of San Francisco, whom she first examine in a 2009 article. “I read a magazine article about a district attorney using new ideas to keep his community safe,” Alsobrooks recalled. Inspired, she began to incorporate restorative justice principles into her own work, in search of ways to rethink the criminal justice system and expand access to opportunity.

Alsobrooks says he sees his candidacy as a way to effect meaningful change, from economic opportunity to access to health care. Her platform focuses on expanding reproductive rights, access to health care and educational resources for Marylanders. Alsobrooks also supports comprehensive immigration reform, including a path to citizenship, and has been openly critical of the Trump-era tax cuts, calling for higher corporate tax rates to fund programs for working families fairly than corporate interests.

The stakes remain high for Alsobrooks as she campaigns to represent Maryland and amplify the voices of diverse communities in the Senate. Marylanders will soon make a choice on November 5, setting the course for the state’s future in Washington.

As Americans approach Election Day, Vice President Kamala Harris is refining her message that her opponent, former President Donald Trump, is the worst option for ladies and girls’s rights. At a campaign rally within the battleground state of Nevada, she told those that Trump’s recent remark that he’ll protect women whether “they want it or not” shows that he doesn’t understand women’s right to make decisions about their very own lives and body.

“By the way, I think it’s offensive to everyone” – AP reports Harris made the announcement on October 31 before campaign days in Nevada and Arizona

During the rally in Phoenix, she expanded on her message, stating, “He simply does not respect women’s freedom or the intelligence of women to know what is in their best interest and make decisions based on that. But we trust women.”

Harris has consistently delivered messages as she criss-crosses the country on the campaign trail. She hopes women’s rights could have an impact on women voting on the polls as Trump continues to grapple with demographic issues.

Meanwhile, during an October 30 rally on the battlefield in Wisconsin, Trump apparently he admitted to his supporters that advisers had urged him to refrain from using the term “defender” when discussing women’s rights because it was “inappropriate.” Immediately afterwards, he signals that he isn’t removing this word from his dictionary. He went a step further and told the group that he had told his advisors, “Well, I’m going to do it whether women like it or not. I’m going to guard them.”

Political pundits have it highlighted that his statements are sometimes contradictory, especially since he appointed three U.S. Supreme Court justices to ultimately create a conservative majority ruling overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022. Earlier this 12 months, Trump bragged about his role in overturning a constitutional law, calling it a “miracle ” – based on CBS reports.

While his message is inconsistent, Trump occasionally states that he believes abortion rights ought to be left to the states.

A Washington state woman has been charged with a hate crime after she allegedly tried to pin the attack on a Black Latino teenager at whom she allegedly shouted racial slurs and slurs.

Jennifer Vincent faces charges of malicious harassment, hate crime, fourth-degree assault and resisting arrest in reference to the Oct. 25 incident.

According to court documents obtained by her, Vincent, who’s white, called police at Pioneer Park in Puyallup, Washington, that day to report that she had been attacked by a 14-year-old boy. KING5News.

When officers arrived at the park, multiple witnesses told them Vincent was the aggressor.

Several people told police that Vincent “screamed racist and derogatory statements” at the teenager and “other Latinos.”

Court documents say the teenager Vincent called 911 told officers that Vincent approached a family celebrating their daughter’s quinceañera at the park and “told them to go back to their country.”

Vincent then allegedly approached the teen and the group he was with and repeated the same statements. According to reports, she “told him to go back to where he came from and he’s not allowed in this country” after which pushed him. Court documents say the teen responded by pushing her away.

Witness statements were consistent with the teen’s version of events, and other people also told officers that Vincent called the teen a “bean” and used the N-word. Fox13 Seattle.

Court records show Vincent was uncooperative with responding officers. Upon arrival, she screamed, refused to reply questions and repeatedly asked for medical attention, though she was walking normally and gave the impression to be unhurt, in accordance with court records.

One of the officers suspected that he was affected by a mental crisis and called a paramedic to the scene, who noticed that Vincent had a history of affected by post-traumatic stress disorder.

When police decided that they had grounds to arrest Vincent, court documents show she resisted multiple officers and accused one of them of attempting to harm her. She can be accused of attempting to pinch one of the officers on the leg.

Vincent was taken to the hospital after which booked into the county jail. During a visit to hospital, doctors found that she had “internal bruising to her back – this was partly due to what she had complained about earlier when she said she had pre-existing injuries, and partly because she had to be checked by officers during her nearly one minute of resisting and fighting with police,” according to the charges documents.

She made her first court appearance on Monday, where a judge set her bail at $10,000 and ordered her to not contact any witnesses or the alleged victim.

He is scheduled to return to court on November 25.