While Republicans seem destined to retake the U.S. House, the U.S. Senate is a tougher battle due to the 2022 map and candidate recruitment.
The key is always to run electable folks, not radicals who appeal to fringes, rather than persuadable, reliable voters.
Enter Larry Hogan — maybe.
Republican hopes of pushing the popular two-term governor into the Maryland U.S. Senate race are rising, as President Joe Biden’s agenda stalls and his poll numbers drop.
Republican leaders are citing Glenn Youngkin’s surprising win in November’s Virginia gubernatorial race as a playbook for keeping former President Donald Trump at a distance while focusing on local issues.
Trump and his acolytes may dislike Hogan, who’s been critical of the 45th president, but winning matters. They may distrust Sens. Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, and Mitt Romney, but Collins won her reelection race last fall by double digits in a state where Trump was soundly defeated. More importantly, those three Republicans are decisive votes against the Biden administration’s left-wing agenda.
Related: Maryland Governor Says Trump Should Not Run in 2024
Biden defeated Trump in Maryland by over 33 points in 2020. Not in over 100 years has a Republican nominee performed as poorly as Trump did last fall in the Old Line State.
Hogan, meanwhile, won two statewide campaigns in left-leaning Maryland, and enjoys broad voter support, despite being a Republican. He supports conservative positions like charter schools, more funding for police, and lowering business regulations and taxes. Also , like all 50 Republican senators, he lauded Sen. Joe Manchin for killing Biden’s “Build Back Better” social spending bill. He’s also personally opposed to abortion.
Defunding the police is just about the dumbest idea I've ever heard. The reality is that we need more police, more investment in law enforcement, and tougher sentences for repeat violent criminals. pic.twitter.com/DP5joFpqqr
— Larry Hogan (@LarryHogan) December 22, 2021
Voters in deep blue or red states sometimes support candidates from the opposite party for governor — see Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, and Vermont right now — but are not always willing to support those same candidates in federal contests. Perhaps that’s because the balance of power in Congress may be at stake, or cultural issues, such as abortion and gun rights, weigh heavier on their choices.
While I still think it’s less than a 50-50 chance Hogan takes the challenge in 2022, CNN reported last week that current Democrat Sen. Chris Van Hollen has told people privately, “I’m running as if he’s in.”
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