Larry Hogan, the popular former Republican governor of Maryland, has launched a surprise Senate run, shaking up the race for the seat vacated by retiring Democrat Ben Cardin.
He announced his decision to run in a video released on Friday via X, formerly Twitter, hours before the filing deadline for candidates to enter the primary.
In the video, he said that he has,
“Made the decision to run for the United States Senate, 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.”
Larry Hogan, a moderate who has clashed with Donald Trump, served two terms as governor of Maryland, a deep-blue state where Democrats outnumber Republicans by more than two to one. He won re-election in 2018 with 56% of the vote, becoming the first Republican governor to do so since 1954.
Hogan had previously ruled out running for Senate, saying he did not have a “burning desire” to be a senator and that he preferred being an executive. He also flirted with the idea of running for president as a third-party candidate with No Labels, a centrist group that seeks to bridge the partisan divide.
When he stepped down last month as the co-chair of No Labels, it fueled a lot of speculation concerning his political future.
Larry Hogan’s Senate bid is seen as a major boost for the Republicans, who are hoping to regain control of the chamber this year, 2024.
