(WatchDogReport.org) – Former Maryland Republican Governor Larry Hogan announced on February 9 that he will officially run for the United States Senate, which gives the GOP a prominent candidate to recover a state that hasn’t had a Republican senator since 1987. Many political analysts said his decision was surprising, as he had considered a presidential run recently.
Experts believe he has a significant chance of winning as he became a national figure during his tenure as governor thanks to his moderate stance. While most GOP voters would vote for him, it remains unclear if the MAGA-aligned would probably also do it, as Hogan has expressed his opposition to former President and presidential candidate Donald Trump. However, he reaffirmed his commitment to the Republican Party in January, after stepping down from the leadership of the third-party movement No Labels.
In a video published by his Senate campaign, Hogan said that voters in Maryland know him because of his time as a governor and how he showed that “the toxic politics” that divides the United States won’t divide the so-called Old Line state. He added that he decided to run for the upper chamber not to serve the GOP but to fight for Maryland and to fix the country’s broken politics.
Back in 2022, the former governor rebuffed a push from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and some other GOP leaders to run against Maryland Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen. When announcing his decision not to run for the upper chamber that year, he expressed confidence in a hypothetical victory. However, he said that while he had many chances of winning the election, he didn’t see himself “being a US senator.”
Hogan, who was the state governor for two terms and left office in 2023, will be running for the open seat left by Senator Ben Cardin, who retired last year. The Republican leader made his Senate bid a couple of hours before the state’s filing deadline.
Copyright 2024, WatchDogReport.org
