By Adam Pagnucco.
Yesterday, the campaign of Council Member Will Jawando, who is running for U.S. Senate, sent out a fundraising text. This is what it said:
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Will is the *only* candidate in Maryland’s U.S. Senate race who:
❌ Supports ending the filibuster
⚖️ Will fight to balance the Supreme Court
💵 Isn’t backed by millionaires and developers
He’s not pouring millions of dollars into this race from his personal bank account or getting big developers to bankroll his campaign. So in order to win, we need your help.
Chip in before midnight to help us hit our grassroots fundraising goal:
will4md.com/eom?t=yJ0JQ
– Team Jawando
Text STOP to quit
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These are obvious digs against self-funding Congressman David Trone and Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks, who has taken money from developers, both of whom are among Jawando’s opponents.
This text resembles a fundraising social media ad he ran in June in which he said, “Millionaires are lining up on both sides of the aisle to try and buy their way into the Senate. We can’t let that happen. Will Jawando is a Montgomery County Councilmember and civil rights attorney running to represent ALL Marylanders – not just the millionaires.” He also sent out a fundraising text in July in which he called himself “the only real progressive in the race.”
I get it. Jawando is an underdog. When you’re running behind, you go negative. That’s how this business works. That said, it’s awfully early for that given the fact that the primary is on May 14. He must be really behind to be making this argument right now. When will he start calling out his opponents by name?
Here is another question. Governor Wes Moore has said that he wants the race to be positive, and if it goes in a different direction, “I will step in and quickly.” If Jawando escalates beyond fundraising pitches, will Moore make good on his word?