马里兰州的初选选民在7月19日的投票中面临无数的选择。最受关注的竞选之一涉及接替任期有限的现任共和党州长拉里·霍根的党内提名。对于民主团体来说，这是这个周期的另一个实验机会通过关注支持唐纳德·特朗普的候选人来影响竞争。

一些观察家认为这是战略性的，因为他们认为共和党基础支持的选择会被更广泛的选民拒绝。

这一次，在影响其他州竞选的喜忧参半的成功之后，随着中期选举在民主党在国会的脆弱多数面前逼近，民主党支出的焦点是马里兰州。丹·考克斯。

在彭斯认证2020年选举结果后，考克斯在一条后来被删除的推文中称时任副总统迈克·彭斯为“叛徒”。在另一条后来被删除的推文中，考克斯宣布，在一群支持特朗普的暴徒袭击美国国会大厦前不久，他正在安排两辆公交车载着选民前往特朗普2021年1月6日在白宫附近的露面。

他后来在一篇脸书视频他的小组在华盛顿纪念碑，但由于大量的人群，没有接近国会大厦。他谴责“所有暴徒的暴力行为，包括那些闯入美国国会大厦的人”，并在视频中说，“我们的团体早早离开，乘车回家，当然，没有参与任何暴力行为。”

民主党州长协会(DGA)在六月下旬播出了一则广告遵循一个熟悉的剧本:批评考克斯的保守主义资历，这种方式也使他在与更温和的竞争者的初选中受到关注。

最新的广告突出了他“100%反堕胎”的立场和“不惜一切代价保护第二修正案”的承诺。广告的旁白总结说，考克斯“离特朗普太近了”。

就DGA而言，它并不认为自己的努力是支持考克斯的。

“几个月来，多项民调显示，丹·考克斯(Dan Cox)在马里兰州共和党初选中稳操胜券，得到了唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)和该州唯一的共和党国会议员安迪·哈里斯(Andy Harris)的全力支持，”DGA副通信主任萨姆·牛顿(Sam Newton)在给美国广播公司新闻(ABC News)的一份声明中说。“鉴于考克斯的领先地位和激进的杂志立场，我们提前开始大选，没有浪费时间让他负责。”

与竞选无关的政党战略家Josh Schwerin告诉ABC新闻，“我们不能确定他们的策略到底是什么。但(他们所做的)有两个优势。”

“第一，他们可以在竞选活动的早期就开始向选民和支持者谈论问题。他们谈论的这些问题是可以在初选中讨论的问题，因为它们将在大选中被讨论。“第二，这些共和党候选人可能更容易在大选中被击败，尽管这带来了极端候选人实际上赢得温和派的风险。”

今年迄今为止，民主党人试图影响州共和党初选的记录各不相同:DGA在科罗拉多州的广告代言人格雷格·洛佩兹(Greg Lopez)在共和党参议院初选中输给了温和派乔·奥迪亚(Joe O'Dea)，这可能是一场与民主党现任总统麦克·班尼(Donald trump)的关键比赛。

与此同时，DGA资助的广告集中在右翼的伊利诺伊州参议员达伦·贝利(Darren Bailey)身上，他随后击败了前奥罗拉市长理查德·欧文(Richard Irvin)，获得了共和党提名，与现任州长J.B .普利兹克(J.B. Pritzker)展开了该州历史上最昂贵的竞选。

马里兰州的州长竞选是对民主团体能否利用现有的右翼党内冲突的进一步测试。共和党初选在考克斯和凯利·舒尔茨之间进行，凯利·舒尔茨是霍根内阁的前州议员和商务部长，在特朗普支持考克斯后不久赢得了他的支持。

霍根是一个蓝色州的保守派领导人，是他所在政党反特朗普少数派的一部分，并拒绝了前总统对选举欺诈的毫无根据的指控。特朗普回应称霍根是“RINO”，或“名义上的共和党人”

霍根在上周四的新闻发布会上抨击了DGA，指责民主党人“花费超过100万美元来支持一个QAnon阴谋论者。(他们)迫切希望(考克斯)成为共和党提名人。”

DGA发言人牛顿说:“凯莉·舒尔茨拒绝回答问题，甚至拒绝参加辩论，这说明她已经在为自己的失败寻找借口了。”。

艇长据报道出席了上周的会议偶尔对州长和舒尔茨进行反击，后来在社交媒体上发布了一系列视频，称这一事件“可笑”和“滑稽”。

考克斯的团队告诉ABC新闻，他不相信卡侬，尽管他发微博了-2020年10月-一个与该阴谋广泛相关的标签。考克斯的发言人在回应霍根的批评时说，“我为他祈祷，因为他公然撒谎。”

与此同时，舒尔茨回击了对方的干扰。

舒尔茨的发言人迈克·德姆基告诉美国广播公司新闻说:“丹·考克斯是边缘人物的活定义，显然不适合担任公职。”。“这就是为什么DGA花钱支持他的竞选活动——他们宁愿现在花100万美元，也不愿在11月面对凯莉·舒尔茨，浪费500万美元输给她。”

DGA相信它可以扭转局势，尽管它在其他地方有着良好的记录。该组织吹捧了古彻学院(Goucher College)的一项民意调查，该调查发现，共和党初选在考克斯和舒尔茨之间有着统计上的联系，但后者“最有资格与民主党候选人竞争。”

DGA还指责舒尔茨“试图隐藏她极端的反选择信仰”

舒尔茨在众议院任职期间发起的2011年“马里兰州人格修正案”将允许马里兰州选民决定修改州宪法，以“从他们的生物发展开始”为人们提供宪法权利。据生殖权利组织称，如果该法案通过成为法律，它可能会禁止几乎所有情况下的堕胎。

然而，舒尔茨最近站出来支持马里兰州的堕胎权:“我个人是反堕胎的……尽管有人散布恐慌，但作为州长，我不会做任何事情来改变马里兰州的现行法律。”

虽然马里兰州在总统选举中是可靠的民主党人，并且拥有民主党的立法机构，但民主党人在之前的五次州长选举中输掉了三次，霍根仍然很受欢迎。

“DGA喜欢谈论保护和捍卫民主，但事实上，他们更关心保护政治权力，这证明了这一点，”Demkiw告诉ABC新闻说，他们的支出。

民主党战略家施韦林提出了另一种观点:DGA的“策略迫使其他候选人谈论他们的立场——不仅仅是DGA宣扬的极端候选人。就丹·考克斯而言，他反对堕胎，支持第二修正案，并得到了特朗普的支持。在马里兰州这样的地方，你不能一边支持堕胎一边为共和党人竞选。你不能一边反对堕胎一边支持民主党。选民希望看到这些立场。”

“与考克斯不同，舒尔茨没有说过要投票给特朗普。...DGA的广告有助于竞选，”施韦林继续说，“因为现在，舒尔茨被迫选择一方，并告诉选民她的立场。”

Maryland is latest test of Dem efforts to sway GOP primaries and focus on conservative picks

Maryland primary voters face a myriad of choices on the ballot on July 19. One of the most closely watched races involves the party nominations to succeed term-limited incumbent Republican Gov. Larry Hogan. For Democratic groups, it'sanother chance this cycle to experimentwith influencing the contests by focusing on pro-Donald Trump candidates.

Some observers argue it's strategic, under the assumption that a choice favored by the GOP's base will then be rejected by the broader electorate.

This time, after mixed success influencing other states' races and with the midterms looming over Democrats' fragile majority in Congress, the focus of the Democratic spending is Maryland state Del. Dan Cox.

Cox, who was endorsed by Trump, called then-Vice President Mike Pence a "traitor" in a since-removed tweet after Pence's certification of the 2020 election results. In another since-deleted tweet, Cox announced that he was arranging two buses to drive constituents to Trump's Jan. 6, 2021, appearance near the White House shortly before a pro-Trump mob stormed the U.S. Capitol.

He later said in aFacebook videothat his group was at the Washington Monument, but due to massive crowds, did not approach the Capitol. He denounced "all mob violence, including those who broke into the U.S. Capitol" and said in the video, "Our group left early for the bus ride home and, of course, did not participate in any violence."

The Democratic Governors Association (DGA)aired an ad in late Junefollowing a familiar playbook: criticizing Cox's conservative credentials in a way that also spotlights him amid a primary with more moderate contenders.

The latest ad featured his "100% pro-life" stance and commitment to "protect the Second Amendment at all costs." The ad's narrator concluded that Cox was "too close to Trump."

The DGA, for its part, doesn't describe its efforts as pro-Cox.

"For months, multiple polls have shown Dan Cox is firmly in the driver's seat of Maryland's Republican primary, with the total backing of Donald Trump and the state's only Republican member of congress Andy Harris," DGA Deputy Communications Director Sam Newton said in a statement to ABC News. "Given Cox's frontrunner status and radical MAGA stances, we are starting the general election early and wasting no time to hold him accountable."

Josh Schwerin, a party strategist unconnected with the race, told ABC News that "we can't know for sure what their strategy really is. But there are two advantages [to what they're doing]."

"One, they can start talking about issues to their voters and supporters earlier during the campaigns. These issues they're talking about are issues that can be discussed in the primaries, because they will be talked about during the general election," Schwerin said. "Two, these Republican candidates could be easier to beat in the general election, although this poses the risk of the extreme candidate actually winning over the moderate."

Democrats' track record of trying to influence state Republican primaries has varied so far this year: Greg Lopez, the face of DGA ads in Colorado, lost the Republican Senate primary to moderate Joe O'Dea, setting up a potentially key race against Democratic incumbent Michael Bennet.

Meanwhile, the DGA funded ads focusing on right-wing Illinois state Sen. Darren Bailey, who then scored the Republican nomination over former Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin to face incumbent Gov. J.B. Pritzker in what was the most expensive race in state history.

Maryland's gubernatorial race presents a further test run of whether Democratic groups can exploit existing intraparty skirmishes on the right. The Republican primary is between Cox and Kelly Schulz, a former state lawmaker and commerce secretary in Hogan's cabinet, who won his endorsement shortly after Trump backed Cox.

Hogan, a conservative leader of a blue state, is part of his party's anti-Trump minority and rejected the former president's baseless claims of election fraud. Trump responded by calling Hogan a "RINO," or "Republican in name only."

Hogan blasted the DGA at a press conference last Thursday, accusing Democrats for "spending over $1 million to prop up a QAnon conspiracy theorist. [They] desperately want [Cox] to be the Republican nominee."

"It’s telling that Kelly Schulz is already looking for excuses for her failure to gain any momentum, while refusing to answer questions and even show up to debates," Newton, the DGA spokesman, said.

Coxreportedly attendedthe conference last week, occasionally shouting back at the governor and at Schulz, then later posted a series of videos on social media that called the event "laughable" and "hilarious."

Cox's team told ABC News he doesn't believe in QAnon, though hedid tweet-- in October 2020 -- a hashtag widely associated with the conspiracy. A spokesman for Cox said in response Hogan's criticism, "I pray for him because of his blatant lies."

Schulz, meanwhile, pushed back at the other party's interference.

"Dan Cox is the living definition of fringe and is clearly unfit for office," a Schulz spokesman, Mike Demkiw, told ABC News. "That's why the DGA is spending money to bolster his campaign – they would rather spend $1 million now than face Kelly Schulz in November and waste $5 million losing to her."

The DGA believes it could tip the scales, despite its track record elsewhere. The organization has touted a poll by Goucher College which found the GOP primary was a statistical tie between Cox and Schulz, but the latter was "in the best position to be competitive against the Democratic nominee."

The DGA has also accused Schulz of "trying to hide her extreme anti-choice beliefs."

The 2011 "Maryland Personhood Amendment," which Schulz sponsored during her tenure in the House of Delegates, would have allowed Maryland voters to decide on amending the state constitution to provide constitutional rights to people "from the beginning of their biological development." Had the bill passed into law, it would have likely banned abortion cases in almost all cases, according to reproductive rights groups.

However, Schulz has recently come out in support of abortion access in Maryland: "I am personally pro-life … Despite fear-mongering from others, as governor, I'll do nothing to change current Maryland law."

While Maryland is reliably Democratic in presidential elections and has a Democratic legislature, Democrats have lost three of the five previous gubernatorial elections and Hogan remains popular.

"The DGA loves to talk about protecting and defending democracy, but in reality, they care far more about protecting political power and this proves it," Demkiw told ABC News said of their spending.

Schwerin, the Democratic strategist, offered another take: The DGA's "strategy forces other candidates to talk about their positions -- not just the extreme candidate who the DGA aired. In the case of Dan Cox, he is anti-abortion and pro-Second Amendment and has Trump's endorsement. In a place like Maryland, you can't run for Republicans while supporting abortions. And you can't run for the Democrats while opposing abortion. The voters want to see these positions."

"Unlike Cox, Schulz hasn't said anything about voting for Trump. ... The DGA ads contribute to the campaigns," Schwerin continued, "because now, Schulz is forced to pick a side and tell voters her positions."