Former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan launches bid for Senate: The anti-Trump Republican who once considered the 2024 presidential election faces an uphill battle to replace retiring Democrat Ben Cardin

Former Republican governor of Maryland and Trump critic Larry Hogan is launching a Senate bid in what is expected to be a competitive race to fill the seat of retiring Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin.

“My fellow Marylanders: you know me,” Hogan begins in a video released by his Senate campaign. “For eight years, we have proven that the toxic politics that divide our nation do not have to divide our state.”

The former governor added that he made the decision to run for Senate “not to serve one party, but to try to be part of the solution: fixing our country’s broken politics and fighting for Maryland .’

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

His announcement comes after Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland announced last May that he would retire at the end of his third term, leading to what is likely to be a competitive race to replace him.

Hogan served as governor of Maryland from 2015 to January 2023, where he gained national attention for his leadership in the state during the coronavirus pandemic and as a fierce Republican critic of former President Trump.

There was speculation for months that Hogan would challenge Trump for the Republican presidential nomination, but Hogan put the speculation to rest last March when he said he would not enter the 2024 presidential race.

At the time, Hogan wrote, after serving the people of Maryland for eight years, he had no desire to put his family through another “grueling campaign just for the experience.”