Larry Hogan endorses Nikki Haley in sign that former Maryland governor has no plans to launch third party in 2024
- Maryland’s governor this week left the third-party movement No Labels, launching speculation that he would launch his own third-party bid
- Instead, Hogan endorsed Nikki Haley’s presidential bid on Sunday
- Comes as Haley continues to rise to a solid second place in recent polls
Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan snubbed talk that he is considering a third-party bid by endorsing Nikki Haley’s 2024 presidential run on Sunday.
Hogan said “it’s time” for Republicans to rally behind the former United Nations ambassador.
It comes days after Hogan stepped down from the board of No Labels – a third party that aims to launch a bipartisan ticket in 2024. Some thought he was leaving the movement to make his own bid, but Sunday’s announcement indicates he has other plans for this election cycle. .
Haley has seen a surge in the polls in recent months ahead of the Iowa caucuses on Monday and the New Hampshire primary on Jan. 23. Once in a solid third place, she is now competing with DeSantis for second place behind former President Donald Trump.
Former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan (right) endorsed Nikki Haley’s presidential bid during an interview with CNN on Sunday – the day before the January 15 Iowa caucuses. It quashes speculation that Hogan left the No Labels movement board this week to launch his own presidential bid
Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley has seen a surge in the polls over the past month, putting her in a solid second place ahead of the caucuses that kick off in Iowa on Monday and are followed by New Hampshire on January 23.
Hogan’s goal has always been to give the Republican Party the best chance of fielding a candidate who could defeat Trump. Last year he joined No Labels, prompting speculation that he could form a unity ticket with a Democrat.
“You know, I’ve been saying since last spring, when I made the decision not to participate, that I really didn’t want to see a multi-car pileup that would just enable Donald Trump,” Hogan told CNN’s State of the Union. Sunday.
He says he believes Haley has the best chance to win in 2024.
“I think we want to have the strongest possible nominee in November,” Hogan added in an interview with Jake Tapper. “Polls show it’s Nikki Haley — that she’s 17 points ahead of Joe Biden, and it’s a matter of Trump and Biden and DeSantis is losing.”
“So yes, I think it’s time for the party to rally behind Nikki Haley,” the former governor noted. “My friend Chris Christie dropped out of the race in New Hampshire. I appreciate his efforts. “But I believe Nikki Haley is our best opportunity to put forward our best possible candidate for November.”
The latest polls for the Iowa caucus are not promising for DeSantis and Haley.
The NBC News/Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll was conducted Jan. 7-12 among a likely 705 Republican caucusgoers. The margin of error is plus-minus 3.7 percentage points
The latest NBC News/Des Moines Register/Mediacom pre-caucus poll, released Saturday evening, shows Trump still firmly in first place with 48 percent support in the early primaries.
Even though Haley rose to second place with 20 percent, it still doesn’t seem like enough to emerge victorious on Monday.
Meanwhile, DeSantis fell to third in Iowa at 16 percent, which is a gap to Haley just outside the margin of error at 3.7 percent.
Separate polls show that hypothetical election matchups with Joe Biden show Haley with a larger lead over the current president than Trump.
A Wall Street Journal poll from December showed Haley with a 17-point lead over Biden, compared to Trump’s lead of just four points over the incumbent president.