Gov. Larry Hogan to CBS: what happened on Tuesday moves him closer to jumping into 2024 race

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) told CBS News' Robert Costa in a phone interview Wednesday afternoon that the results of Tuesday's midterm elections have pushed him closer to jumping into the race for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, with the two-term governor eager to lead a revival of what he called "normal Republicans" in the wake of disappointing turns by candidates endorsed by former President Donald Trump.

For years, Hogan said, "I felt like I was on a lifeboat all by myself" inside the GOP, "with everybody on the Trump Titanic" and with few allies for his conservative but Trump-skeptical approach. "Now we need a bigger boat," he said, as fellow Republicans arrive at a political crossroads and consider the party's future. 

"I don't know if it was a complete repudiation of Trump and Trump politics, but it was certainly a much better night for Republicans running as commonsense conservatives," Hogan added. "Those Republicans won almost everywhere."

Hogan, who has been a Trump critic, argued that Trump's message and his allied candidates failed to build a broad coalition in many states and alienated some traditional Republicans and independent voters by taking "extreme" positions or being politically combative. 

"I've been talking about a bigger tent," Hogan said, "and we need that. I think there is a battle for which direction the Republican Party will go. My side of the party had a really good night. Trump's side did not." He added, "That battle is not over and it's going to go on for a long time. The Republicans should have had a huge red wave, and I've said it was going to be muted."

Hogan said he was "getting calls all night" from donors and GOP officials. "They were saying it's a good night for Larry Hogan," he recalled. "It makes me feel all the stuff I've been saying and doing, there are people out there who agree."

Hogan said he and his advisers will continue to consider a 2024 run in the coming weeks. His advocacy group, An America United, was busy throughout the 2022 cycle with advertising in support of like-minded Republicans.