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The opening week of Duke’s new Master of Public Affairs program closed with a heartfelt, wide-ranging keynote conversation featuring U.S. Senator Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), a proud graduate of Duke’s Sanford School of Public Policy (PPS'93) and a trailblazer in American politics. She is the first Black senator from Maryland and one of only four Black women to have ever been elected to the U.S. Senate.
Before an audience of mid-career policy practitioners in the inaugural MPA cohort, Alsobrooks joined Sanford Interim Dean Manoj Mohanan for a candid fireside chat that wove together reflections on her personal journey, stories from the campaign trail, insights into life in the Senate, and a call for a more empathetic, justice-driven approach to policymaking.
“I jump up and down on this truck so you’ll never have to,” Alsobrooks recalled her father saying during his early-morning paper delivery route for The Washington Post, a job he held while selling insurance by day. “It stuck with me for a lifetime.”
The image of her father tossing newspapers in the dark hours of the morning left a lasting impression. He hadn’t gone to college himself, but when she told him in the sixth grade that she wanted to attend Duke, he vowed that if she worked hard and got admitted, he would support her. He and her mother kept that promise (even as they struggled financially), making sacrifices so she and her sister could attend college at the same time.
Her time at Sanford (then the Institute of Policy Sciences and Public Affairs) laid a foundation not only for her understanding of policy, but also for her values. “I have been motivated throughout my career in public service to serve people like the family I grew up in,” she told the crowd. “Every one of us wants the same things for our families.”
From Underdog to Trailblazer
Alsobrooks' rise through the political ranks has defied expectations. She entered her first campaign for state’s attorney with just 2% name recognition and no fundraising experience. “We worked so hard,” she said. “And we won by 25 points.”
That early success paved the way for her to run for county executive of Prince George’s County (Maryland’s second-largest jurisdiction), where she again defeated a more prominent opponent by a commanding margin. “At every level,” she said with a grin, “they’d say, ‘She’s a really nice lady. There’s no way she can do this.’”
Her Senate campaign in 2024 was her most ambitious race to date. Alsobrooks ran against a sitting U.S. Representative who poured nearly $70 million of personal wealth into the primary. Her own campaign raised only a fraction of that, but she leaned on the same strategy that had worked before: meeting voters directly and listening to their concerns.
“The best advice Fred [Yang] gave was to get out and talk to the people,” she said, referring to her longtime pollster, a Duke parent who was also in attendance that evening. “People need people who represent them and live like them.”
That approach, she said, not only helped her win the primary by double digits but also carried her through the general election, where she defeated a popular former Republican governor despite a late-in-the-race influx of national money opposing her. “We were up against quite a lot,” she said, “but we stuck to our values.”
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Members of the MPA cohort had time to talk with Senator Alsobrooks at the event.
Representing Real Life in the Senate
Alsobrooks spoke candidly about what it’s like to be one of the youngest and least wealthy members of the Senate. “Over 60% of senators are millionaires,” she said. “I’m probably one of the poorest people in the Senate.” But she sees her background not as a deficit, but as a perspective that belongs at the policymaking table.
“I believe that every experience should be represented,” she said. “Those who’ve struggled financially, those from different races and genders, people of all backgrounds. It makes our country stronger when more people can look at our institutions and see themselves reflected.”
Defying her expectations and public perceptions of intense political divisions, she has found the Senate to be a highly collegial environment. She described bipartisan prayer breakfasts, casual games of pickleball, and legislative cooperation across the aisle. She shared how she has partnered with Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) on legislation (even when they disagree on other issues) and described her colleagues as “highly professional people who genuinely want to serve.”
Still, Alsobrooks acknowledged deep concerns about the weakening of institutional norms. “We’re seeing a challenge to the separation of powers,” she said, pointing to recent disputes between the executive and legislative over the distribution of congressionally approved funding.
“I really respect the Constitution,” she said. “And I believe it’s our job to make sure that our government respects it, too.”
Wealth, Justice, and the Policies That Matter Most
Many of Alsobrooks’ policy goals center on economic opportunity. As a member of the Senate Banking Committee, she has made wealth creation a central focus.
“Most people just want income,” she said. “If we help people earn a living, we eliminate so many other issues.”
That framing, she added, comes from real conversations with real people. In a recent visit to a rural town still reeling from a paper mill closure in 2019, she heard about the pain of losing 600 jobs and a tax base that supported public services. “People there didn’t want sympathy. They wanted solutions.”
That mindset drives her work on issues such as cryptocurrency regulation (an issue she said she learned about from younger relatives). “It’s already happening,” she said. “And it’s unregulated. So we can either do the best we can to create a framework now, or we can leave people vulnerable.”
She also emphasized her ongoing commitment to public safety and justice reform. “We want justice,” she said. “We want systems that work for everyone.”
As a former prosecutor, Alsobrooks said she’s spent her career rejecting the idea that impoverished communities should accept violence as a fact of life. “We don’t want to live in fear,” she said. “We want the laws respected, and we want policing done with dignity and fairness.”
Words for Future Leaders
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In closing, Alsobrooks turned her attention to the audience of new MPA students and offered advice to leaders already making a difference in their communities.
“You’re inheriting a world that’s changing fast,” she said. “But that means you’re also in the right place at the right time. We need your solutions.”
She urged them to seek understanding, not just knowledge. “We know more than we understand,” she said, quoting her father. “But real leadership comes from understanding.”
To close the evening, she turned to poetry. Alsobrooks read “The Cold Within,” a parable by James Patrick Kinney about division and indifference and the risks of selfishness, prejudice, and disengagement.
“Stay warm,” she said, looking across the room. “Stay hopeful. And you know what? I think the best is still yet to come.”