For Alsobrooks and Hogan, victory in Senate race runs through Frederick

I bumped into Karen Simpson in Frederick. We were at an outdoor reception for a conference on Maryland main streets, enjoying what felt like the first cool night of fall. Six years ago, she was a long-shot Democrat running for the House of Delegates in ruby-red Pasadena. Predictably, she lost. Then her husband got a job as a pastor in Frederick, and rather than waiting for retirement to join him — the city had always been their dream — friends pointed out an opportunity.