Republican Larry Hogan makes surprise bid for Maryland's open U.S. Senate seat

BALTIMORE -- Former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan made a surprise entry into Maryland's open U.S. Senate race.

Hogan filed just hours before the deadline on Friday. 

The seat opened after Maryland's senior senator, Democrat Ben Cardin, announced his retirement last year.    

Hogan, a Republican, won a long-shot bid for governor in 2015 and left the term-limited office in 2023.

He stressed bipartisanship in his campaign announcement Friday. 

"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."

Hogan said, "The politicians in Washington seem to be more interested in arguing than in actually getting anything done for the people they represent. Enough is enough."

Hogan's entry puts the seat in play and could change the national political map.

Democrats now must spend on a race thought to be reliably in their column with the margin for control of the Senate razor thin, as they defend more open seats than Republicans. 

Mileah Kromer, director of the Sarah T. Hughes Center for Politics at Goucher College wrote a book on Hogan, "Blue-State Republican."

"Two things are true at the same time: One, it is going to be an uphill battle for any Republican trying to win statewide in Maryland for the U.S. Senate race, for a federal race," Kromer told WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren. "The second thing that is true is that you don't discount a two-term, Republican governor who maintained a 65 to 70 percent approval rating over eight years."

Kromer added, "I was as surprised as everyone else was that he decided to throw his hat into the ring today."

She told Hellgren, "Larry Hogan will still have to win Republican primary, but right now he certainly will have immediately more recognition and more money than any of the other candidates that are currently filed to run."

Hogan rebuffed a senate run last cycle and flirted with a run for the presidency. He previously headed the No Labels political organization and has been a fierce critic of former President Trump.

"I didn't support him in the last two elections and don't think he should be anywhere near the White House again," Hogan told CBS News last June. 

The two top Democrats running for senate—Representative David Trone and Prince George's County Executive Angela Alsobrooks—quickly pounced on Hogan's entry into the race.

Trone told WJZ in a statement, "Larry Hogan's candidacy is nothing but a desperate attempt to return Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump to power and give them the deciding vote to ban abortion nationwide, suppress votes across the country, and give massive tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans."

Alsobrooks wrote, "We know what's at stake in this election—our fundamental freedoms over our bodies. When I join the Democratic Majority, I'll be a leader in fighting to defend those freedoms because I'm the only person in this race—on either side—who's never compromised on that issue."

Kromer said of Hogan, "He is not somebody who would get into a race where he knew he would have no chance of victory. That is not the type of political animal that he is. He's a pragmatist at heart, and so I'm sure that the Hogan campaign has done some internal polling on this race. They've taken a close look at Maryland and a close look at any potential victory. That doesn't mean that path of victory is going to be easy—uphill and incredibly steep."

Hogan could face questions about the scandal involving his former top aide Roy McGrath who was killed in an encounter with the FBI.

McGrath was facing a maximum of 100 years in federal prison for charges of illegally recording Hogan and stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from state government.

Hogan faces Republican primary competition from retired Brigadier General John Teichert.

Teichert said Friday, "Marylanders deserve to have a choice, and I welcome anyone to the race who wants to offer them one."

He has the endorsement of Hogan's former Lieutenant Governor Boyd Rutherford. 

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• 2024 Elections