Former GOP Gov. Larry Hogan’s Creepy Solution for How to Win Back ‘Weird’ Republicans Women

The Republican Party has a woman problem. Former Maryland Republican Gov. Larry Hogan has a solution: Don’t be weird.

Donald Trump, JD Vance and conservative voters face an uphill battle to win the female vote in November.

Vance’s recent comments criticizing “childless cat ladies” have drawn criticism from both sides of the aisle, with Hogan and others concerned that it will further alienate the GOP’s critical voting bloc.

It earned him the description “odd,” first coined by Gov. Tim Walz, the newly minted vice presidential candidate who considers Hogan a friend.

“I’m not weird,” Hogan, who has launched an unashamedly centrist campaign for Senate, said dryly in an interview with DailyMail.com. “I’m not for weird.”

Republicans looking to attract female voters “need to be more like me,” he added, as Kamala Harris currently holds a 13 percentage point lead over former President Donald Trump among female voters.

As a Republican running in all-blue Maryland, Hogan has uniquely positioned himself as one of the last outspoken anti-Trump Republicans.

He has indicated he wants to revisit Roe v. Wade, while most Republicans believe abortion should be left up to the states.

Hogan told DailyMail.com that he will not be voting for Trump or Harris this election, but he would not reveal who he would put on his presidential ballot.

“I just don’t think these are the two best people to represent America,” he said while touring local business tents in Olney, Maryland, in honor of National Night Out.

Between 2016 and 2020, Trump closed the gender gap: in 2020, he received 44 percent of the female vote, compared to 39 percent in 2016.

While recent polls show Harris ahead of Trump by 13 percentage points among women, she is losing by nine percentage points among men.

Democrats are hoping the overturning of Roe v. Wade and recent comments about women can undo Trump’s progress on women.

Vance was forced to defend comments he made years ago criticizing “childless cat ladies” and in 2020 when he joked that the “most psychotic” and “most deranged” online commenters tended to be childless.

“I obviously didn’t find the comments from the former president or the potential new vice president that helpful,” Hogan said.

“It was clearly a sarcastic comment. I have nothing against cats,” Vance recently joked about the remarks, saying they were not meant to criticize people without children, but the Democrats’ “anti-family” policies.

Walz, the current governor of Minnesota, first coined the slur “weird” last month.

“We’re not happy about what happened. You can’t even go to Thanksgiving dinner with your uncle because you’re getting into a weird, unnecessary fight,” the Minnesota governor said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on July 23.

“Well, it’s true. These guys (Republicans) are weird.”

Hogan drew criticism from fellow Republicans when he congratulated Walz on being chosen as Harris’ running mate.

“I want to congratulate Governor Walz,” he wrote on X. “I have always appreciated his dedication to public service. I believe we need more governors at the national level because governors need to actually get things done. I wish Tim and his family the very best.”

Suburban women — a long-coveted demographic for both Democrats and Republicans — can often make or break an election. Biden won their support in crucial swing states last time out.

“In some cases, (Republicans) are on the wrong side of some issues,” Hogan said. “I’ve always defended a woman’s right to choose and that’s what I did for eight years as governor, what I promised to do, I promised to restore Roe v. Wade. So I think that’s a big part of it.”

Democrats hope the overturning of Roe v. Wade and recent comments about women can undo Trump’s progress on women

That’s not to say that “women care about the same things as everyone else,” he says. “Affordability and the economy, they care about crime and their neighborhoods.”

And conservatives’ battle with women isn’t going away. Democrats led Republicans among 18-29 year-old women by nearly 50 points and among 30-44 year-old women by 16 points, according to a Brookings analysis of 2022 exit polls.

The overturning of Roe, just months before the election, was widely seen as the reason why the expected “red wave” in the House of Representatives turned into a red ripple, and Republicans lost control of the Senate.

Hogan served as governor of the state from 2015 to 2023. Despite his wide popularity as governor, he is trailing Democrat Angela Alsobrooks in the polls in the race for U.S. Senate.