But the centrist GOP candidate’s team emphasized Wednesday in a strategy memo that the path to victory hinges on Hogan continuing to put distance between himself and his national party.

“Marylanders are concerned about the national Republican agenda,” Hogan chief strategist Russ Schriefer wrote. “Still, the Hogan record gives us a wide arsenal of arguments that move voters by reassuring them that he will be the strong, independent leadership we need in Washington.”

The tactic seeks to thwart accusations from Alsobrooks and her Democratic allies that Hogan is misleading voters about his intentions to act as an independent steward willing to combat a “MAGA” agenda. Instead, Alsobrooks said he would enable hard-right Senate Republicans to enact Trump-aligned policies, including a national abortion ban that Hogan has repeatedly denounced.

Schriefer said the Hogan campaign’s “greatest challenge” will be “reassuring voters” he won’t be afraid to take on the national agenda. Hogan, a former two-term Maryland governor, has rejected what he calls a “halfhearted” endorsement from longtime nemesis former President Donald Trump.

The memo also referred to Alsobrooks, who is the executive of Prince George’s County, as a “generic Democrat in a deep-blue state” who is “framing the race as a choice between a Republican and a Democrat, but she has done little to define herself or introduce herself to voters.”

The Alsobrooks campaign declined to comment.

While Hogan has consistently distanced himself from the GOP on hot-button issues such as abortion access and Trump, whom he will not vote for, the Senate hopeful has received the backing of the Senate Republican campaign arm and leadership, including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).

A poll released Tuesday commissioned by AARP and conducted by pollsters of President Joe Biden and Trump showed Hogan and Alsobrooks neck-and-neck at 46%. Hogan outperformed Trump, who trailed Vice President Kamala Harris in the state by 32 points.

The Hogan strategy memo said the campaign expects outside groups to sway the race in their favor in the final stretch and touted Hogan’s strong favorable rating of a net positive 31 compared to Alsobrooks’s net positive 25.

Alsobrooks remains largely undefined, with more than a quarter of voters having never heard of her compared to just 3% who said the same of Hogan. The pollsters said that could present trouble for Hogan because the only group that views him unfavorably is undecided voters.

Alsobrooks is looking to ride the momentum of her longtime friend Harris and has increasingly tied herself to the top of the ticket as Senate Democrats look to boost her name recognition heading into November.