Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan to run for Senate

[Celerity]

Former Gov. Larry Hogan (R-Md.) on Friday announced a bid to replace retiring Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.). His run puts a state otherwise out of reach for Republicans into play, further complicating Democrats' already tough 2024 Senate map.

https://www.axios.com/2024/02/09/larry-hogan-republican-senate-2024

What he's saying: Hogan struck a moderate tone in a video announcing his run, saying he doesn't "come from the performative art school of politics." "We desperately need leaders willing to stand up to both parties – leaders that appreciate that no one of us has all the answers or all the power," he said.

Link to tweet

The backdrop: A businessman and son of a former congressman, Hogan was first elected governor in 2014 by nearly four percentage points and reelected by 12 points in 2018. A moderate and harsh critic of former President Trump, Hogan left office in 2023 as one of the most popular governors in the country. Hogan flirted with a third-party presidential bid backed by the non-partisan group No Labels, but ultimately endorsed Republican Nikki Haley for president.

The other side: The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee signaled plans to tie the arch-centrist Hogan to the more conservative national GOP. "A vote for Republican Larry Hogan is a vote to make Mitch McConnell Majority Leader and turn the Senate over to Republicans so they can pass a national abortion ban," DSCC spokesperson Maeve Coyle said in a statement.
"Democrats have won every statewide federal election in Maryland for 44 years and 2024 will be no different."

State of play: Maryland is a heavily Democratic state, having voted for President Biden by more than 33 percentage points in 2020. With a presidential election coinciding with the Senate election in November, Hogan will likely face difficult headwinds.
Democrats have a competitive primary between Rep. David Trone (D-Md.), a self-funding businessman, and Angela Alsobrooks, the executive of Prince George's County.

snip

[Lovie777]

1. He is still a Republican........................

[CBHagman]

2. I'm still taking this in, but I am bumping this to ensure visibility.

The Washington Post used to give absolutely fawning praise to Hogan, so it's going to be rather gooey on the website and pages of the paper for a bit here.

We'll see what happens in the primaries.

[In It to Win It]

3. knr

[edhopper]

4. He will still be a Republican

can give the Republicans a majority in the Senate, and will mostly vote with the Republicans.
No matter how "moderate" he thinks he is, he will not move the GOP away from their Trump/MAGA mindset.
If this were a Republican seat that would be one thing. But he will only do harm if he wins.
He will be Maryland's Susan Collins.

[NYC Liberal]

7. He's a coward who wrote in Ronald Reagan in 2020

instead of just voting for Biden.

[Polybius]

5. Will he even win the Republican primary?

If he does, who's running against him?

[Celerity]

6. Hogan will likely win the Rethug primary with ease, he already has a shedload of major endorsements in a few hours

Angela Alsobrooks (my choice) and the No Labels-founded and affiliated Problem Solvers Caucus member David Trone ( founder of US retail chain Total Wine) are the two top Dems.

Angela Alsobrooks (left) and David Trone (right) in 2023

Why this Black, female politician considers Sen. Kamala Harris a ‘quintessential big sister’

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/angela-alsobrooks-kamala-harris/2020/08/17/856e22d0-e0b5-11ea-8181-606e603bb1c4_story.html

https://archive.is/DsSYb



Angela D. Alsobrooks first read about Kamala D. Harris in Essence Magazine in 2009, when Alsobrooks was launching an underdog run for state’s attorney in the Maryland suburb where she grew up. Harris was making history as the first Black woman to serve as district attorney in San Francisco. Alsobrooks (D), who was trying to accomplish the same feat in Prince George’s County, was impressed.

But what really wowed her was Harris’s focus on restorative justice, which Alsobrooks began talking about on the campaign trail in Prince George’s. When Alsobrooks defeated her opponents in a landslide, one of the first calls she received was from Harris. “I am here for you,” she recalls Harris saying. “Anything you need.”

Now, after more than a decade of mentorship, friendship and both women forging political firsts, it is Alsobrooks vowing to do anything she can for Harris, a U.S. senator whose vice-presidential bid makes her the first Black woman and first Asian American to join a major-party ticket.

During a breakfast hosted by Maryland Democrats as part of the virtual Democratic National Convention, Alsobrooks hailed presumptive presidential nominee Joe Biden for selecting Harris — saying the choice amounts to recognition that Black women have long been “the backbone and the moral compass of the Democratic Party.”

snip