A Democratic power broker makes its move in a big Senate race. Is it too late?

For months, Democratic Rep. David Trone has blanketed Maryland’s airwaves in ads for his Senate campaign. Now, with the primary drawing to a close, Trone faces some pushback in a new ad campaign from a group backing his primary rival, Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks.

The question for Alsobrooks is whether the new effort will make a difference.

Women Vote!, a super PAC tied to EMILY’s List, which supports female Democrats who back abortion rights, launched an attack against Trone over the weekend, just 10 days before the state’s primary on Tuesday. It’s the first outside group to engage on Alsobrooks’ behalf on the airwaves, as she has been swamped by the massive spending advantage Trone has built using his vast personal fortune.

While Alsobrooks’ allies welcomed the help, some lamented that it didn’t come earlier. Trone’s seemingly bottomless wallet, donors’ prioritizing expensive battlegrounds over blue-state primaries, general fatigue among big political contributors and the prospect of a pricey general election in November in Maryland are just a few possible reasons other pro-Alsobrooks groups didn’t spend in the race until now.

“I think it’s unfortunate she hasn’t gotten more,” said Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., the former House majority leader, who has backed Alsobrooks. “I think she’s the strongest candidate we have.”

Stefanie Brown James, a co-founder and the executive director of the Collective PAC, which backs Black candidates and supports Alsobrooks, said: “It definitely was not ideal for it to take so long for the resources to come in to get up on the air. But now that that has happened, I think it will make a tremendous difference.”

On the airwaves

EMILY’s List decided to spend for Alsobrooks