Bridge Collapse in Baltimore Puts an Election Year Spotlight on Infrastructure

When a bridge carrying Interstate 95 in Philadelphia collapsed last summer, President Biden came to town six days later and stood alongside Pennsylvania’s governor for an announcement that it would be repaired and reopened within two weeks.

Now that an interstate highway bridge in Baltimore has fallen into the water after being struck by a cargo ship early Tuesday morning, the president, who counts a major infrastructure law as part of his first-term accomplishments, will have another challenge to demonstrate what a competent government response looks like.

Maryland isn’t a presidential battleground, but like Pennsylvania it does have a Democratic governor who is a key Biden ally with significant political ambitions of his own and a Senate race that will help determine which party controls the chamber next year.

Gov. Wes Moore of Maryland declared a state of emergency and said he was in contact with federal and local authorities.

It will take time to determine the political fallout from the Baltimore bridge collapse. The dramatic video of the Francis Scott Key Bridge crumbling into the Patapsco River is ready made for doom-and-gloom political ads. The human toll of the collapse remains undetermined. And if Baltimore’s port is closed for a significant period it would enact a severe and extended economic toll on the region.

So far Maryland officials have not sought to cast blame or seek a partisan advantage. Former Gov. Larry Hogan, a centrist Republican who is running for the Senate, wrote on social media that he was praying for those still missing. The two Democrats in a primary to face Mr. Hogan, Representative David Trone and Angela Alsobrooks, the Prince George’s County executive, released similar statements of grief and