Anti-Trump Republican Larry Hogan navigates dangerous political terrain in pivotal Senate contest
STEVENSVILLE, Md. — Andy DePaola welcomed Larry Hogan to his family’s restaurant with a big smile and a handshake. The warning came a few minutes later.
DePaola, the 64-year-old namesake of DePaola’s Bagel and Brunch here in Maryland’s conservative Eastern Shore, whispered to a reporter that Hogan would be better off avoiding discrediting former President Donald Trump.
“I’m a Trumper,” DePaola said as Hogan posed for photos and chatted with the excited breakfast crowd on a Friday morning. “I think Larry would be better off if he kept his feelings about Trump quiet.”
The brief exchange during a weeklong bus tour illustrates a grim political reality for the popular Republican former governor, who single-handedly turned Maryland’s sleepy Senate race into a top contest in the national battle for the Senate majority. Hogan, who was perhaps the country’s most outspoken anti-Trump Republican governor, cannot afford to lose even part of his delicate and diverse political coalition.
He hopes to become the first Republican in more than four decades to win a Senate seat in this deep blue state, where Democrats outnumber Republicans 2-1 statewide, with much of the Democratic support in Baltimore and the suburbs of Washington. Over the next six months, Hogan will have to fend off political threats from all sides.
While Trump loyalists view the 67-year-old businessman with skepticism, Democrats are banking on abortion rights to make Hogan’s historic challenge even more difficult. But the R after his name may ultimately prove to be Hogan’s most serious liability in a state that Trump lost by 33 points four years ago.
If Hogan wins Maryland’s open Senate seat, Republicans would almost certainly claim the majority in the U.S. Senate — and with it the power to control the agenda and judicial appointments for at least the next two years.
In an interview, Hogan confirmed that he would consult with Republicans in Washington, despite his concerns about Trump’s grip on the party. He also vowed not to leave the Republican Party after the election, even if Trump returns to the White House.
“I’m a true Republican,” Hogan told The Associated Press, noting that he does not identify with Trump’s Make America Great Again movement.
When asked to explain his concerns about MAGA, and whether he sees Trump as a threat to American democracy, Hogan parsed his words carefully.
“I definitely think there have been some threats,” Hogan said. “But you know, I don’t think that’s what this campaign is really about.”
Meanwhile, Hogan’s opponents on the left are just beginning to organize as Democrats go through their own nomination process. While Hogan faces token opposition in the Republican Party, Democrats will pick Hogan’s general election opponent next month.
On Tuesday, a coalition of labor, immigration and progressive groups gathered in the state capitol to criticize the former governor for using his veto power to block legislation that would expand access to abortion while undermining other Democratic priorities, including healthcare, environmental protection and education financing.
The anti-Hogan event was a reminder that voters in his gubernatorial election may have been more willing to overlook party affiliation than in a Senate battle that could tilt the balance of power in Washington toward the Republicans make it tilt.
“Despite his claims to be a moderate, we know his actions demonstrate that he is a staunch Republican,” said Ricarra Jones, political director of 1199 SEIU, who opposed Hogan’s veto of legislation to raise the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour, rejected.
“The battle for the Senate in November is bigger than just Maryland,” she continued. “A Republican-dominated Senate would pursue a dramatically different agenda, one that could unwind years of progressive achievements and reshape Maryland’s policy landscape in ways that could take generations to turn the tide. .”
Meanwhile, Hogan tries to avoid divisive political disputes as he reintroduces himself to Maryland voters on a low-key “Back to Work” bus tour of the state.
Perhaps the most outspoken anti-Trump Republican governor in office, Hogan barely mentions Trump’s name unless asked about him. He is just as eager to ignore abortion, even though Maryland is among the states that will vote on an abortion referendum this fall — a winning issue for Democrats in both red and blue states, where ballot questions have appeared since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the constitutional law has destroyed the right to an abortion in 2022.
Democrats suggest he would support a federal abortion ban, but Hogan emphasized in an interview that he would not.
He also said he strongly supports in vitro fertilization and will introduce legislation to protect the practice, an apparent attempt to clarify his position after he declined to say in an Axios interview last month whether he would support such federal protections.
He also said he would “consider voting for” a Maryland election measure this fall that would protect abortion rights, though he claims it is not necessary.
Hogan said abortion isn’t discussed much during the campaign. He predicted it would not be a “decisive issue” in the election.
Asked about the issues most important to him, Hogan said he is most focused on ending division in Washington, followed by the crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border, crime and the economy.
But Hogan largely avoided talking politics during his weekend bus tour, preferring to connect with voters on a personal level. He was eager to jump behind the counters of restaurants to chat with the kitchen staff or have his picture taken welcoming small business owners. And voters, regardless of party affiliation, enthusiastically embraced him at almost every stop.
Landa Mitchell, a 46-year-old African American woman from Hanover, Maryland, stopped the governor as he toured small business booths during a weekend boat show. She had met him years ago at a fundraiser for the homeless.
Mitchell said she is not a Republican, but she would probably vote for Hogan.
“He is not far right. He is there, but he is not far over there,” Mitchell said with a laugh, adding that she is unsure whether she will support President Joe Biden this fall because of the state of the economy. “I’m far from a Trump supporter, but when I go into the supermarket today I want to cry.”
Caroline County Sheriff Donald Baker, who welcomed Hogan during a tour of his office, said he also appreciates the former governor’s strong support for law enforcement. He noted that the sheriff’s office has not received any applicants for a recent vacancy.
“It’s going to be a tough road for him to walk,” Baker said of Hogan’s political challenge. “If anyone can do it, I believe Larry Hogan can do it. Why? Because he’s a middle-of-the-road guy. He knows how to work with people.”
And as Democrats fight to link him to Trump’s Republican Party, Hogan will struggle to distance himself from Trump — but not too far.
“We don’t want to alienate Trump voters,” Hogan told the AP. “We need Trump voters. And we need a lot of Biden voters. Maryland is tough.”
But he doesn’t expect Trump or other MAGA celebrities to campaign on his behalf in Maryland in the coming months. He said he’s not sure if he’ll even attend the Republican National Convention this summer, where Trump will formally become the Republican Party’s presidential nominee; Hogan also skipped Trump’s last two nominating conventions.
“I don’t think Trump would help me at all. I had a 46-point lead over him,” Hogan said, noting that Trump lost Maryland in 2020 by a larger margin than any other state in the country. “I don’t think he needs to campaign in Maryland.”
___
Witte reported from Annapolis, Maryland.