Democrat Angela Alsobrooks' chances of keeping her Maryland Senate seat, according to polls

Maryland Senator Angela Alsobrooks is looking to renew her Senate seat in the November elections against Republican challenger Larry Hogan, a former state governor.

But what was initially seen as a low-stakes race, considering Maryland has lately been considered a solidly blue state, is now a potentially contentious one.

Recent polling has shown Alsobrooks on the lead, but about a third of voters don't know who she is, according to an Axios report. That has led her backers to nearly triple ad-buying this month as part of an attempt to expand her lead.

The report detailed that Alsobrooks' campaign and affiliate groups are set to spend over $5 million in September for video ads, both in broadcast TV and digital. The figure compares to August's $1.6 million. Hogan's campaign spent $2.5 million in August and reserved $2.6 million for September.

Republicans are hoping that Hogan's higher favorability numbers propel him to the Senate, even saying their internal polling shows their candidate ahead. They are also celebrating a recent endorsement from West Virginia Independent Senator Joe Manchin. "Forget about being a Democrat or Republican. Larry Hogan is just the right person with the right attitude for the job," Manchin said.

However, the Cook Political Report still has the race listed as "likely Democrat." And all but one poll in FiveThirtyEight's aggregator show her with the lead. The most recent study, conducted by Morning Consult among 640 likely voters between August 30 and September 8, has Alsobrooks' with 48% of the support compared to Hogan's 43%.

It is a smaller margin than a survey conducted in mid-June by Public Policy Polling among 635 likely voters, which had the incumbent with an 8-point lead, 48% to 40%. But it is also larger than a mid-August study by Fabrizio, Lee & Associates/Impact Research, which showed both candidates tied at 46% after surveying 600 likely voters.