PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, Md. (DC News Now) -- With just weeks to go in the race for U.S. Senate in Maryland, political analysts are taking a measure of the Angela Alsobrooks and Larry Hogan campaigns. Polling conducted by The Hill and the UMBC Institute of Politics, and Emerson College and DC News Now, shows Democrat Alsobrooks with about a 9.5 point lead over Republican Hogan. "It's going to be close," Alsobrooks told DC News Now. "We're going to have to work hard all the way down the stretch. I'll be pushing hard all the way through Election Day." Outcome of US Senate race could hinge on Maryland’s ballot But Hogan has won before by running from behind. "I've always been an underdog," Hogan told D.C. News Now on a campaign swing from Baltimore to the suburbs just outside D.C. "We're outnumbered more than two to one. I'm overperforming by almost double and I think we've got a lot of momentum." John Ashford is the president and CEO of The Hawthorn Group, an inside-the-beltway public affairs firm that closely tracks political campaigns across the country. He said that Hogan could face challenges because this year's election is during a presidential year. "Larry Hogan has never run in a presidential year," Ashford said. "He's never run with a Democratic presidential candidate at the top of the ticket." Candidates for Maryland’s US Senate seat lining up endorsements for November election With Vice President Kamala Harris expected to carry Maryland, Ashford observes that Hogan will need a strong crossover vote. Alsobrooks and Hogan are closing out their Tuesday campaign swings in Prince George's County.