In a video announcing his candidacy for the Senate in 2024 to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin, Hogan said, “The attitude of putting country above party is too much.'' “Washington is completely destroyed,” he said.
Using lines familiar to Marylanders, he pitched his candidacy as an opponent of partisanship in general, calling himself “like the vast majority of Marylanders who are jaded.” expressed.
“Marylanders, you know me,” he said. “For eight years, we have proven that the toxic politics that divide our country need not divide us.”
He is the only prominent and well-known Republican in the race. The Democratic primary was a two-person race between U.S. Rep. David Trone (D-Md.) and Prince George's County Executive Angela Alsobrooks.
Two years ago, Mr. Hogan was invited by national Republicans to challenge Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and help Republicans tip the balance of power in Congress, but after months of speculation, Mr. In the end, he resigned.
“I have said repeatedly that I have no desire to serve in the United States Senate, and that fact remains,” Hogan said at the time.
Republican leaders did not give up.
“He's very popular,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said in an interview Friday. We obviously will. ”
McConnell claimed the hire would “boost” Republicans' efforts to regain the Senate majority. Republicans' biggest targets are vacant seats in West Virginia, where Gov. Jim Justice is running as a Republican and is on track to win, and red-state seats in Montana and Ohio, where Democratic incumbents hope to keep their seats. It's a state.
Mr. Hogan's latest reversal is a test of his popular patience and whether Maryland's Democratic voters are willing to send a pragmatic Republican to the Senate, even if it hurts Democrats nationally. It will be.
Hogan's electoral success in a state where registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans by a 2-to-1 margin is due to party members, many independents and some Democrats who are willing to cross party lines. It depended on building a coalition government.
His Maryland Republican Party lost many of its pro-Hogan leaders during Hogan's tenure, replaced by supporters of former President Donald Trump, whom Hogan has long criticized harshly.
The governor's hand-picked Republican successor, Kelly M. Schultz, lost in the 2022 primary to far-right Dan Cox, who is closely aligned with Trump, and lost the general position to Gov. Wes Moore (Democratic) in the 2022 primary. They lost by a difference of more than %. point.
Cox is now among a crowded field of candidates seeking the Republican nomination in Maryland's most competitive congressional district, located in conservative western Maryland.
Democrats were quick to criticize Hogan's candidacy as an opportunity for Republicans to seize more power in Washington.
“A vote for Republican Larry Hogan is a vote to make Mitch McConnell the majority leader and turn the Senate over to Republicans to pass a nationwide abortion ban. Democrats are winning federal elections across the state, and 2024 will be no different,” Maeve Coyle, a spokeswoman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said in a statement.
Mr. Tron and Mr. Alsobrooks, who are embroiled in a high-stakes battle for the Democratic nomination, each quickly attacked Mr. Hogan.
“Marylanders are tired of empty promises from career politicians like Larry Hogan,” said Trone, a three-term congressman. “He talks about putting politics aside, but he has spent his entire tenure as governor on partisan attacks on bad policies,” Tron said, adding that Hogan “failed Baltimore City.” ” pointed out the circumstances.
“Maryland cannot afford to have an anti-choice Republican in the US Senate,” Allbrooks wrote on X.
Hogan's ability to sidestep divisive social issues, such as calling abortion a settled legal issue in Maryland, and instead focus on pocketbooks and criticize politicians for being partisan. has infuriated Maryland Democrats for years.
Since leaving office a year ago, he has co-chaired the centrist group No Labels, which seeks to put candidates to the polls across the state who could replace Biden and Trump. It is said that
In December he resigned from his leadership position with the organization.
Staff writer Liz Goodwin contributed to this report.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
