Hogan emerges as GOP candidate with strongest chance in decades to win Senate seat in Maryland

Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan emerged from Tuesday's GOP Senate primary as perhaps the most formidable Republican candidate in nearly four decades to become the state's next U.S. senator. 

To be sure, a Hogan win in November would rewrite Maryland history and its long tradition of electing Democrat candidates to the Senate. But he's done it before.

In 2014, Hogan became governor in a state in which Democrats hold a roughly 2-to-1 registration advantage over Republicans and make up slightly more than half of registered voters. He also won reelection in 2018.

And to win a Senate seat he will need to build a coalition that includes Democrats and independents. 

This fall Hogan will face Prince George County Executive Angela Alsobrooks, who on Tuesday defeated Rep. Dave Trone in the state's Democrat Senate primary.

Hogan and Alsobrooks will compete for the open Senate seat of retiring Democrat Sen. Ben Cardin.

When Hogan first announced his Senate bid in February, he said in a video that he was running “not to serve one party, but to try to be part of the solution: to fix our nation’s broken politics and fight for Maryland.”

When he was in office as governor, Hogan was one of the Republican officials who often criticized presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump. 

Because of this, he has received criticism from many pro-Trump Republicans. 

"Larry Hogan has no chance of winning the Senate race in November because he doesn’t have a strong enough coalition among Democrats and Republicans to prevail in the general election," former Maryland GOP gubernatorial candidate Gordana Schifanelli told Just the News. "There are over 2.5 million Democrats in Maryland, 1.5 million Independents and 900,000 Republicans. Among Republicans, Hogan is not the most popular candidate."

Conservative talk radio host Mark Levin referred to Hogan as a "RINO slug" after he announced his candidacy, stating there should be "No more RINO slugs who undermine the conservative agenda in Congress and promote the likes of McConnell.”

Hogan used to be in leadership with the third-party movement No Labels, but stepped down in January of this year.

He often brands himself as a moderate and on Wednesday announced the launch of "Democrats for Hogan."

"I am excited to launch Democrats for Hogan and have my good friend and former Democratic state Senator Bobby Zirkin on our team," Hogan wrote on the social media platform, X. 

"To my Democratic and Independent friends, you know me and you know my proven track record of reaching across the aisle to find common ground for the common good," Hogan also wrote. "You know that I have the courage to put people over politics and to put country over party. I will continue to be the same strong independent leader for Maryland that I always have been."

Schifanelli told Just the News that part of the reason Hogan won the gubernatorial race in 2014 was residents of Maryland being fed up with taxes from prior Democratic Gov. Martin O'Malley.

"O’Malley raised our tolls from $1.50 on the Bay Bridge to $6.00 bucks and people revolted," she said. "O’Malley reduced the well-funded Bay Bridge Operating fund to zero and raised costs so much that people struggled."

Schifanelli added that Democratic gubernatorial candidate Anthony Brown, who is now a Maryland congressman, could not defend O’Malley’s record in 2014. 

A victory for Hogan could hand help Republican win control of the Democrat-controlled Senate in November.