129 Comments

Hogan is a Republican who supported Trump and praised his Supreme Court picks. As governor he did whatever he could to limit women’s reproductive rights. Electing him would most certainly flip the Senate, and for all his talk, he is one of the spineless Republicans who will enable whatever horrible things the MAGAs want to do. He is a fraud.

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Yep. A good question to ask yourself is this: 'Did this moderate GOP politician ever in their history of governance sign an abortion ban like Larry Hogan and Nikki Haley did?' If the answer is yes, that's the only answer you need. Normal human beings don't play peekaboo with the nutters who want to ban abortion.

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Even if his isn’t a spineless republican, who are his fellow (R) senators going to listen to? Will it be him, or the dear leader? Ask Mitt Romney, sitting alone at a table in the Senate cafeteria, miles away from the “cool kids table” how that worked out for him.

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False. Hogan has never supported Trump.

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Here in Baltimore, where I live, yes, there are some Democrats who like Hogan, but plenty others who don’t. Plenty. And even among those who do, you hear, “I liked Hogan, but nope, I’m voting blue all down the ticket.” Most people don’t trust Hogan not to veer into a MAGA way of thinking on certain issues. And thank goodness this blue state doesn’t want any parts of that. Plus come ON, we want to keep the senate blue.

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I mean, he's donated to DeSantis and Abbott, it's very clear he's fine with the extremist wing of the Republican Party on plenty of things, and especially on the issues where Marylanders really want a check in the Senate. Like abortion - no matter how he tries to reinvent himself with rhetoric, his record as governor speaks for itself.

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I’m not concerned about Hogan’s thinking, but it’s naive to assume he will not be part of the caucus. Congress, even the Senate, is not a place where a lone individual succeed without a part of a caucus. Just unrealistic and I bet he won’t like it.

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And as a member of that caucus, he lends to GOP control of the senate calendar (bringing votes to the floor), one of the top issues of what it means to have “control” of the senate along with confirming appointments.

He is mostly irrelevant as an individual.

Electing a “bipartisan” Republican only makes sense if the alternative is MAGA (see Murkowski in AK). Totally pointless in a state like MD where you can just elect a Dem.

Cheering on Allsbrooks here!

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Exactly. The Senate ie too close for comfort now

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I agree with you.

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As a lifelong Independent and non-partisan voter until 2016, Larry Hogan sounds like the kind of Republican I would've perhaps considered voting for back in the pre-Trump era. Props to him for saying publicly that he won't vote for Trump.

But his public refusal to support Harris and thereby do everything he can to ensure Trump's defeat on the grounds that Maryland's supposed to be in the Democratic bag and his vote won't matter... that would be a giant kiss-my-effin'-ass disqualifier if I were voting in the state. And his argument that the Republican party can be checked and somehow go back to what it was pre-Trump is naive wish-casting at the very, very best and just downright stupid at worst, with typical cynical campaign smokescreen rhetoric being the most likely reason for espousing such crap.

It's precisely because of 'traditional' Republicans like Hogan who went along to get along when it came to acquiescing to the Trump steamroller that I will never trust a Republican again, no matter how normal or "democracy loving" they may portray themselves as being. The GOP - what it was and what it's now become and how easily it got there - is the single best argument I can think of for a case of clearcut guilt by association.

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Well said! I wish I could like this more than once.

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Thanks, Richard.

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Oct 3Edited

M. - you had me at your adjectives for "disqualifier"

...then "precisely" <--- A+ right there!

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Geez. I haven't ever seen but one A+ on my writing, and that was in my senior year in high school. And that was one hell of a very long time ago. Thanks for the reminder of what one of those looks like. :-)

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And let’s not forget that if we aren’t trouncing Trump in the popular vote, even if we win the electoral college for Harris, they are going to be screaming about an unfair election until the cows come home. Don’t get me wrong, they will be screaming it anyway, but if Harris wins the popular vote by 10 million or more, there are not going to be a lot of people listening…. If I was in Maryland right now and heard that Hogan isn’t going to vote for Harris like he didn’t vote for Biden, I would certainly not be voting for him…

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Living hard by the seat of federal government as we are, and so many of us employed there, Marylanders understand the stakes. A Republican Senate majority will hamstring every Harris administration appointment, rule, process, and legislative act - however remote the math makes the possibility of a Dem majority, we won't be responsible for making it easier on Republicans to do so.

But it's under a Trump administration that the real danger lies. There is no possibility Trump would not threaten Hogan, either personally or politically or why not both, to vote for his degenerate unconstitutional agenda. Maryland needs flood assistance? Well, Larry, we need your support on a federal abortion ban. I'll leave others to imagine the personal threats Trump may make; there are plenty of examples already. Hogan would fold "for the good of his state" no matter how principled he is (and I believe he is).

We need to use our votes to crush Trump and MAGA up and down the ballot, or this will be the last election. Marylanders understand this very well.

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"up & down the ballot" - a very good rant indeed!

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“Nice state you have there, Larry. It would be a shame if something happened to it…”

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“Maybe I’m not a MAGA Republican, like many people today, but I think there’s, I think there are people on both sides of the aisle that would like to get things done and fix some problems, but they don’t have the courage to speak out quite as much as I do. And rather than just giving up on the party and walking away—which I don’t think is going to fix anything—I’m trying to be one of the few that’s willing to stand up and fight back.”

Larry Hogan might not be as far gone as a Chris Sununu, who ties himself in logic pretzels every time he opens his mouth, but Hogan is a far cry from "courage... willing to stand up and fight back.”

I get your beat (or preference) is to cover Republicans but because you are very good at that task, I encourage you to pull Angela Alsobrooks aside for 5 minutes to ask one question only, Why are you running for US Senator, in politics at all?

You might be encouraged, perhaps even inspired, by her reply.

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I would very much like to read a corresponding article about Alsobrooks.

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You raise an excellent point about the Bulwark's focus on Hogan. Sarah used to be a Hogan fangirl (so much so that JVL goofed on it by calling Hogan "St. Larry"), although I doubt Sarah feels the same way these days knowing that Hogan says he won't vote for Harris and "normie" high profile Republicans like him thus provide a permission structure for "undecideds" and normie Republican voters not to vote for Harris. Much of the Hogan "sane Republican" viewpoint is wishful thinking IMHO; yeah he's got more spine than the loathsome and craven Sununu and Haley, but he will be cowed into submission if Trump is reelected. These are not normal times and so-called Republican "normies" like Hogan who seem to think they still have a voice are either deluded or charlatans or both.

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I too am a Maryander and I dint know why Hogan thinks he's going to be any more effective than Mitt Romney. Romney became a pariah and Hogan should note he's not running for a second term. The Republicans are not going to tolerate like the Democrats, and Biden, tolerated Manchin. And why should I trust Hogan went turn into a Rubio or Graham who capitulated just to stay relevant?

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Senate Republicans have been very friendly to Hogan, as long as he represents a possible windfall seat. He wouldn't have so many friends if he were already there, and openly critical of Trump.

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E2 - def the Trumpist way: gimme gimme gimme your vote then I'm done wit ya. Till next time 😉

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Any Republican running for any seat at any level in my state since 2016 lost my vote and will lose all my future votes based solely on the issue of trust. Which is to say that witnessing the go-along-to-get-along transformation of the GOP into a domestic enemy of democracy, I will never trust a single one of those sons of b****es again. Ever. As I noted in another comment, this is nothing if not a completely justifiable case of guilt by association.

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I feel the same way. The GOP turned their backs on our country and on the Constitution.

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My first thought when I heard he was running was that I was surprised he hadn't gotten talked out of running by Mitt. I'm half convinced that he started running just to get out of being pestered about being a third party presidential candidate and probably expected that one of the extremists would beat him in the primary.

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Hogan seems like a nice guy, and that's refreshing when MAGA's main policy is "the cruelty is the point." But wrong state, wrong time. Marylanders know the importance of a Democrat-controlled Senate, and no one is going to waste their vote on Harris only to stymie her by electing a Republican Senator at the same time. It's Harris and Alsobrooks, or Trump and Hogan, all the way down.

Hogan lawn signs in Maryland are just people saying they will vote for Trump while hoping their neighbors won't disinvite them from the Christmas party.

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Yup. That is hitting the nail on the head.

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Larry Hogan is a coward!

If I still lived in Maryland I may have voted for him, but given that his latest comment about who he is supporting for President, “he’s not voting for any candidate!”

Bullshit!

This may be the most significant election of our time! A Facist regime taking our freedoms away, or for a Democracy, supporting the Constitution of our Country!

Many Republicans have come out in support of Harris/Walz and the Constitution! Including the Cheney’s and many Four Star Generals!

Hogan’s weak position sounds whiny, “I don’t like Harris’s policies!” Fine. How about this, do you like Project 2025? Do you like rounding up immigrants for mass deportation? Do you like a National ban on abortion? Gutting Medicare and privatizing Social Security?

A Policy debate will happen but our country may not survive!

No wonder you are behind in the polls!

If I was still a Marylander, I’d be voting for Alsobrooks for Senate!

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Couldn't agree more. Anyone who says "I'm not voting for any candidate" is the equivalent of telling people not to vote. How is that okay in any democracy. Don't vote???

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I would also add that Hogan is trying to position himself as a pro voice candidate when that's disingenuous. He says she's lying about him withholding funds when that's exactly what he did. He held up $3.5M that was supposed to go towards training more abortion providers in anticipation of the overthrow of Roe. That's the perogative of a MD governor. Those funds weren't released until Wes Moore became governor.

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Thank you! Was waiting for this article to point out. It's kind of a big omission to take him at his word on this issue where his record says the opposite.

The audacity of him claiming that Alsobrooks is lying about him by just... stating what he did as governor. What anyone can look up.

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Hogan seems like a good guy, but we need a Blue Senate. Maryland: Vote Blue!. The nation will be grateful to you.

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Good guys don't last in the magat party. Look at all the staunch conservatives they purged from their party. The ones they haven't purged they make their lives difficult so they retire from office.

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Richard - he might try giving Jeff Flake a call, he's got plenty time on his hands to chat w/Hogan

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Maybe Flake could talk him 8th endorsing, and voting for, Harris.

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Never happen-if Hogan did that he'd have MAGA whackos driving by his house in pickup trucks. And Hogan is deluded enough to still think he can have a voice in the Republican party.

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“Into”, not “8”. I don’t know how that mortifying typo happened,

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Right? And tell cautionary tale of poking the MAGA crowd vis a vis one’s senatorial standing

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He's not that great. The article doesn't really go into how he's actually a lot more conservative on his policies than he's trying to seem to win this seat. Like he's now claiming he'll support Roe, but he certainly didn't do that as governor.

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Someone else told me he was weak on Roe. Wasn't aware of this.

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Yeah, he's trying to run as an abortion moderate, but that is not how he legislated as governor:

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/maryland-larry-hogan-veto-abortion-access-bill/

including pettily denying funding when he didn't get his way:

https://apnews.com/article/abortion-us-supreme-court-business-health-larry-hogan-f3598a08b63cbf470f0bbc4bc2360415

Our current Democratic governor, Wes Moore, released those funds on day one.

He also praised the Trump SCOTUS appointees AFTER they overturned Roe. He's just claiming to be pro-choice to win an election, but it's very much banking on a very politically-engaged state to just ignore everything he already did on that issue.

Even aside from the abortion issue itself, I just personally, as a Maryland voter, don't see how the blatant lies about his record (he's tried to take credit for legislation he vetoed, including these) is really the "return to honesty and integrity" his campaign is claiming to be, you know?

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I question his popularity. Yes, I voted for him for a second term. Had the Democrats had a decent candidate running, I doubt we would be talking about a senate run for Hogan.

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I agree. It's easy to be the Republican governor that looks both tough and reasonable when your state legislature is a Democratic supermajority.

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He's happy now to take credit though for stuff that passed only because of that Democratic legislature... that he vetoed. *sigh*

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💯

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I say it's a hard No on Hogan. He claimed he would back the Republican nominee even if it was Trump to Hugh Hewitt until he was shamed into backtracking: https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/3840973-larry-hogan-says-he-will-support-trump-if-hes-the-nominee/. Now he (like many other "normie" Republicans) claims he can say with a straight face that he won't vote for Trump or Harris because he doesn't live in a swing state, as if his visibility nationally as a normie Republican doesn't matter to undecided Republican voters (we've heard the same garbage from Romney, Bret Stephens, Jonah Goldberg and others). Vanquishing Hogan is a small but necessary step to burning down the present Republican party and reducing it to ashes, so that a rational new Republican Party can be rebuilt. As far as those "old Jewish men engaged in a spirited debate about how President Joe Biden is 'such an antisemite,'” I can only shake my head (as a +65 Jewish man and Zionist) and hope they are so senile they forget to vote.

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Yeah, exactly - when you have this kind of national profile, you can't claim "well I don't live in a swing state" as an excuse. The Cheneys live in Wyoming; that didn't stop them from endorsing and now Liz campaigning with Harris.

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I don't know much of. MARYLAND POLITICS..but I formed an opinion re Larry Hogan: He is living in foggy reality of the GOP. How is it that a seemingly intelligent man cannot see HOW very much it is tattered,full of holes,so dirty and corrupt, rudderless twirling around in the filthy TRUMP SEAS.

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I live in Maryland and I agree.

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I didn't think Hogan was a serious candidate for dog catcher when he said he voted for a dead person rather than trump or Biden. That was clownish and cowardly behavior. Not sure who told him to state that publicly, but they should probably be fired.

There is no way in hell Hogan will be the thorn that a Manchin was to his party. And Manchin still quit b/c he was going to lose his Senate seat.

Hogan's GOPs time has passed, and he should figure out what his next job will be b/c it won't be the Senate.

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"A recent Washington Post poll found that while Hogan has a 52 percent favorability, 60 percent of Marylanders want a Democratic Senate."

Bingo. Lifelong Marylander who never voted for Hogan. Many of my democratic friends and neighbors did. They have no intention of voting to put him in the Senate.

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Yeah, I'll never understand his popularity in this state. He did some bare minimum stuff like not opening up way too early during the pandemic, sending the Maryland National Guard during J6, that would be unremarkable if the Republican Party weren't so extreme. On the issues he's a pretty typical Republican - he himself would have said that (and did say that) before he decided to run for Senate in a blue state.

And all that bare minimum stuff he did? Any Democrat would do as well. How is that an argument for voting for him?

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Yep. As a lifelong educator, his education policies were typically republican. I'll never vote for that and the legislature didn't stand for it either.

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"Hogan says he isn’t voting for Donald Trump or Kamala Harris. 'I’ve decided I’m not voting for any of either two major candidates,' he told me. 'It’s pretty much a foregone conclusion in Maryland, it’s a 32-point race with Kamala Harris being elected. But I’m not gonna—she hasn’t earned my vote. I don’t agree with her on issues and my position on Trump is pretty clear.'

Translation: I'm a coward. I have a binary choice in which one option permits me to protect the integrity of the Constitution and I choose instead to hide behind policy differences even when many visible members of my party have managed to stand up and be counted. He deserves to lose, and I hope he does.

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Damn dude... that was succinctly put! 👍

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