Local
Alsobrooks leads Hogan in Md. Senate race: polls
Previewing regional races in Md., Va., Del.
Polls indicate Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks is comfortably ahead of former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan in the race to succeed retiring U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.).
A Washington Post-University of Maryland poll conducted between Oct. 17-22 found Alsobrooks ahead of Hogan by a 52-40 percent margin. Alsobrooks, a Democrat, was ahead of her Republican rival by a 48-39 percent margin in a poll the University of Maryland Baltimore County conducted between Sept. 23-28.
Alsobrooks during an interview with the Washington Blade before she defeated Congressman David Trone in the May 14 primary said she supports the Equality Act. Alsobrooks also highlighted her support for Maryland’s marriage equality law that voters upheld in a 2012 referendum.
Hogan in 2018 signed a bill that banned so-called conversion therapy in Maryland. He criticized Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over his state’s “Don’t Say Gay” law during a 2023 interview with CNN’s “State of the Union.”
A bill that created the Commission on LGBTQ Affairs in the Governor’s Community Initiatives Office took effect in 2021 without Hogan’s signature. Hogan also did not sign a bill that banned the so-called LGBTQ panic defense in Maryland.
Hogan marched in this year’s Annapolis Pride parade.
Campaign spokesperson Blake Kernan on Wednesday referred the Blade to the campaign’s final ad it released earlier in the day.
“I’m not just another Republican,” says Hogan. “I’ll make your life more affordable, and support a woman’s right to choose.”
Kernan defended Hogan’s record on LGBTQ rights in an article the Blade published on Aug. 7. Kernan in a May 22 statement criticized Alsobrooks over her comments about Hogan’s abortion rights record.
The Alsobrooks campaign on Tuesday told the Blade it is “ready to defend our Democratic Senate Majority, protect our freedoms, and fight for our families.”
“Angela continues to travel across the state and can feel the enthusiasm and energy from all voters — from young people concerned about the cost of living, women concerned about access to reproductive freedoms, seniors concerned about the cost of prescription drugs, and all Marylanders who want a future where their families can thrive,” said the campaign in a statement. “Angela is in this fight for every one of them, for every Marylander.”
Democrat April McClain Delaney is running against former Maryland state Del. Neil Parrott (R-Washington County) in the race to succeed Trone in Maryland’s 6th Congressional District.
A Gonzales Research and Marketing Strategies poll conducted between Aug. 24-31 found Parrott ahead of Delaney by a 41-39 percent margin. A Public Opinion Strategies poll conducted between Aug. 6-11 found Delaney ahead of Parrott by a 42-40 percent margin.
Delaney, a former Commerce Department official who is married to former Maryland Congressman John Delaney, in her campaign ads has noted Parrott in 2005 said people who test positive for HIV should be tattooed. Parrott in 2014 led an unsuccessful effort to prompt a referendum on Maryland’s transgender rights law that then-Gov. Martin O’Malley signed.
In Virginia, state Sen. Suhas Subramanyam (D-Loudoun County) is running against Republican Mike Clancy in the state’s 10th Congressional District. The winner will succeed Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton, who announced last September she would not seek re-election after doctors diagnosed her with an aggressive form of Parkinson’s disease.
“When I think about who will best continue my legacy and deliver real results for us in Congress, I can think of no one better than state Sen. Suhas Subramanyam,” said Wexton in an Oct. 16 press release in which she and former U.S. Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-Va.) endorsed Subramanyam’s campaign.
Democrat Eugene Vindman is running against Republican Derrick Anderson for outgoing Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger’s seat in Virginia’s 7th Congressional District.
Spanberger is running for governor in 2025.
In Delaware, state Sen. Sarah McBride is poised to become the first transgender person elected to Congress. Democratic Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester is also likely to become the first Black person to represent Delaware in the U.S. Senate.
“There’s no one better to represent us in Washington, D.C., and in the United States Senate than Lisa Blunt Rochester,” said President Joe Biden in a recent endorsement.
Rehoboth Beach
BLUF leather social set for April 10 in Rehoboth
Attendees encouraged to wear appropriate gear
Diego’s in Rehoboth Beach hosts a monthly leather happy hour. April’s edition is scheduled for Friday, April 10, 5-7 p.m. Attendees are encouraged to wear appropriate gear. The event is billed as an official event of BLUF, the free community group for men interested in leather. After happy hour, the attendees are encouraged to reconvene at Local Bootlegging Company for dinner, which allows cigar smoking. There’s no cover charge for either event.
District of Columbia
Celebrations of life planned for Sean Bartel
Two memorial events scheduled in D.C.
Two celebrations of life are planned for Sean Christopher Bartel, 48, who was found deceased on a hiking trail in Argentina on or around March 15. Bartel began his career as a television news reporter and news anchor at stations in Louisville, Ky., and Evansville, Ind., before serving as Senior Video Producer for the D.C.-based International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union from 2013 to 2024.
A memorial gathering is planned for Friday, April 10, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. at the IBEW International Office (900 7th St., N.W.), according to a statement by the DC Gay Flag Football League, where Bartel was a longtime member. A celebration of life is planned that same evening, 6-8 p.m. at Trade (1410 14th St., N.W.).
District of Columbia
D.C. Council member honored by LGBTQ homeless youth group
Doni Crawford receives inaugural Wanda Alston Legacy Award
About 100 people turned out Tuesday evening, April 7, for a presentation by D.C.’s Wanda Alston Foundation of its inaugural Wanda Alston Legacy Award to D.C. Council member Doni Crawford (I-At-Large) for her support for the foundation’s mission to support homeless LGBTQ youth.
Among those who attended the event was Japer Bowles, director of D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs, who delivered an official proclamation issued by Bowser declaring April 7, 2026 “A Day of Remembrance for Wanda Alston.”
Alston, a beloved women’s and LGBTQ rights activist, served as the city’s first director of the then newly created Office of LGBTQ Affairs under then-Mayor Anthony Williams from 2004 until her death by murder on March 16, 2005.
To the shock and dismay of fellow LGBTQ rights advocates, police and court records reported Alston, 45, was stabbed to death inside her Northeast D.C. house by a man high on crack cocaine who lived nearby and who stole her credit cards and car. The perpetrator, William Martin Parrott, 38, was arrested by D.C. police the next day and later pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. He was sentenced in July 2005 to 24 years in prison.
Crawford was among those attending the award event who reflected on Alston’s legacy and outspoken advocacy for LGBTQ and feminist causes.
“I am deeply humbled and honored to receive this inaugural award,” Crawford told the Washington Blade at the conclusion of the event. “I think the world of Wanda Alston. She has set such a great foundation for me and other Council members to build on,” she said.
“Her focus on inclusivity and intersectionality is really important as we approach this work,” Crawford added. “And it’s going to guide my work at the Council every day.”
Crawford was appointed to the D.C. Council in January of this year to replace then Council member Kenyan McDuffie (I-At-Large), who resigned to run for D.C. mayor as a Democrat. She is being challenged by four other independent candidates in a June 16 special election for the Council seat.
Under the city’s Home Rule Charter written and approved by Congress, the seat is one of two D.C. Council at-large seats that cannot be held by a “majority party” candidate, meaning a Democrat.
A statement released by the Alston Foundation last month announcing Crawford’s selection for the Wanda Alston Legacy Award praised Crawford’s record of support for its work on behalf of LGBTQ youth.
“From behind the scenes to now serving as an At-Large Council member, she has fought fearlessly for affordable housing, LGBTQ+ funding priorities, and racial justice,” the statement says. “Council member Crawford’s leadership reflects the same courage and conviction that defined Wanda’s legacy.”
Organizers of the event noted that it was held on what would have been Wanda Alston’s 67th birthday.
“Today’s legacy reception was a smashing success,” said Cesar Toledo, the Alston Foundation’s executive director. “Not only did we come together to celebrate Wanda Alston on her birthday, but we also were able to raise over $10,000 for our homeless LGBTQ youth here in D.C.,” Toledo told the Blade.
“In addition to that, we celebrated and we acknowledged a rising star in our community,” he said. “And that is At-Large Council member Doni Crawford, who we named the inaugural Wanda Alston Legacy Award recipient.”
At the request of D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson (D-At-Large) the Council voted unanimously on Jan. 20, 2026, to appoint Crawford to the Council seat being vacated by McDuffie.
Council records show she joined McDuffie’s Council staff in 2022 as a policy adviser and later became his legislative director before McDuffie appointed her as staff director for the Council’s Committee on Business and Economic Development for which McDuffie served as chair.
Calendar: April 10-16
BLUF leather social set for April 10 in Rehoboth
Celebrations of life planned for Sean Bartel
The ‘X’ returns to court
LGBTQ community explores arming up during heated political times
Risking it all for love during World War II
D.C. is the place for the Democratic Socialists of America
PHOTOS: The Bonnet Ball
Key lifestyle changes can help patients cope with diabetes
