Then-Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan addresses supporters on the Maryland statehouse on Jan. 10, 2023, in Annapolis, Md. Hogan introduced Friday he’ll run for U.S. Senate.

Julio Cortez/AP

cover caption

toggle caption

Julio Cortez/AP

Then-Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan addresses supporters on the Maryland statehouse on Jan. 10, 2023, in Annapolis, Md. Hogan introduced Friday he’ll run for U.S. Senate.

Julio Cortez/AP

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan introduced Friday that he’ll run for U.S. Senate, giving Republicans a outstanding candidate who’s well-positioned to run a aggressive marketing campaign for the GOP in a state that hasn’t had a Republican U.S. senator in 37 years.

The resolution marks a shock turnaround for Hogan, a reasonable who had thought-about a presidential bid. During Hogan’s tenure as governor, he grew to become a nationwide determine as one of many uncommon Republicans prepared to criticize Donald Trump. Last month, Hogan stepped down from the management of the third-party motion No Labels.

“My fellow Marylanders: you know me,” Hogan begins in a video launched by his Senate marketing campaign. “For eight years, we proved that the toxic politics that divide our nation need not divide our state.”

The former governor added that he determined to run for Senate “not to serve one party, but to try to be part of the solution: to fix our nation’s broken politics and fight for Maryland.”

“That is what I did as your governor and it’s exactly how I’ll serve you in the United States Senate,” Hogan stated.

GOP leaders are keen to select up the seat as they attempt to wrest management of the Senate from Democrats, who maintain a slim majority and are defending extra seats than Republicans in 2024.

In 2022, Hogan rebuffed an aggressive push from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and different Republicans to run in opposition to Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen.

When he introduced his resolution to not run for Senate two years in the past, Hogan expressed confidence he may win. “But just because you can win a race, doesn’t mean that’s the job you should do if your heart’s not in it. And I just didn’t see myself being a U.S. senator,” he stated then.

The former two-term governor who left workplace early final 12 months will probably be operating for an open seat as a result of retirement of Sen. Ben Cardin. Hogan made his Senate bid identified simply hours earlier than Maryland’s submitting deadline.

Hogan introduced in March that he wouldn’t problem Trump for the GOP’s White House nomination. Last month, he squelched hypothesis of a third-party presidential run and endorsed former United Nations ambassador and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley for the Republican nomination for president.

The not often open Maryland Senate seat already has drawn U.S. Rep. David Trone into the Democratic major, in addition to Angela Alsobrooks, the county govt of Prince George’s County within the suburbs of the nation’s capital. Trone, the rich founding father of a series of liquor shops referred to as Total Wine & More, has poured $23 million of his personal cash into his marketing campaign to date.

Seven Republicans have filed to enter the GOP major, however none is as nicely often called the previous governor. Hogan was solely the second Republican governor to ever win reelection in Maryland, a state the place Democrats outnumber Republicans 2-1.

He received his first time period as governor in 2014 in an upset, utilizing public marketing campaign financing in opposition to a better-funded candidate. Running on fiscal considerations as a reasonable Republican businessman, Hogan tapped into voter frustration over a sequence of tax and payment will increase to defeat then-Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown.

Hogan, who had by no means held elected workplace earlier than, centered on pocketbook points from the outset. He lowered tolls, an motion he may take with out approval from the General Assembly, lengthy managed by Democrats. But he additionally confronted challenges, together with unrest in Baltimore following the demise of Freddie Gray in police custody in 2015. Hogan despatched the National Guard to assist restore order.

In June of that 12 months, Hogan was identified with stage 3 non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma however continued working whereas receiving remedy. He has been in remission since November 2015.

Maryland’s final Republican U.S. senator was Charles Mathias, who served within the Senate from 1969 to 1987. Mathias was often called a liberal Republican who usually clashed along with his celebration over points such because the Vietnam War and civil rights.