Former Maryland GOP Gov. Larry Hogan launches Senate campaign: ‘Fed up with politics-as-usual’
Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan has announced that he will run for the open US Senate seat in his home state, becoming the highest-profile Republican to enter the race.
Hogan, 67, filed his campaign paperwork in Annapolis Friday, just beating Maryland’s filing deadline after rebuffing previous attempts by Republicans to recruit him for higher office.
“It’s official – I’m running for the United States Senate to fight for Maryland and fix the broken politics in Washington,” the former two-term governor wrote on X, adding that he’s “completely fed up with politics-as-usual and the politicians in Washington who are more interested in arguing than getting anything done for the people they represent.”
The anti-Trump Republican, who stepped down from his No Labels Party leadership role last month, touted his record as Maryland’s governor from 2015 to 2023 in video released by his Senate campaign.
“My fellow Marylanders, you know me,” Hogan said. “For eight years, we proved that the toxic politics that divide our nation need not divide our state. We overcame unprecedented challenges, cut taxes eight years in a row, balanced the budget and created a record surplus, and we did it all by finding common ground for the common good.”
The moderate Republican was only the second GOP governor ever to win re-election in deep blue Maryland, where more Democrats are registered to vote than Republicans by a 2-1 margin.
Hogan signaled in his campaign launch video that he would continue with his centrist approach to politics if elected senator.
“We desperately need leaders willing to stand up to both parties,” Hogan said. “Leaders that appreciate that no one of us has all the answers or all the power. Because this is not just about the differences between the right and the left. This is about the difference between right and wrong.”
A Hogan victory would flip the seat currently occupied by retiring Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) in a year where Democrats, who hold a slight majority in the Senate, will be defending more of their seats than Republicans.
However, Maryland hasn’t had a Republican senator in 37 years, and President Biden won the state by a whopping 33 percentage points in 2020.
Hogan is the most well-known figure among the seven on the GOP primary slate.
On the Democratic side, the race has drawn in deep-pocketed Rep. David Trone (D-Md.), the founder of alcohol retailer Total Wine & More, who has already pumped more than $23 million of his own money into his campaign.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Friday that for the last week he has worked behind the scenes with National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) to convince Hogan to run.
“Steve Daines and I both had numerous conversations with him,” McConnell told the Hill. “My political team as well.”
“I enjoyed conversations we’ve had with Larry over the last week. He’s extraordinarily popular. To be competitive in a blue state like that is quite a boost for us,” he added.
McConnell had also encouraged Hogan to launch a Senate bid against Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) in 2022.
Hogan decided against running at the time but expressed confidence he could win.
“Just because you can win a race, doesn’t mean that’s the job you should do if your heart’s not in it,” he said at the time. “And I just didn’t see myself being a US senator.”
The following year, Hogan explained that he wouldn’t be running for Cardin’s seat because the quarrelsome nature of life in the Senate didn’t appeal to him.
“The Senate is an entirely different job,” Hogan said, comparing it to the Maryland governorship. “You’re one of 100 people arguing all day. Not a lot gets done in the Senate, and most former governors that I know that go into the Senate aren’t thrilled with the job.”
“It’s not something I’m pursuing,” he said last May.
Hogan was diagnosed with stage 3 non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in June 2015, during his first year in the Governor’s Mansion, but continued to work as he received treatment.
