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    Optimus Prime

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    Good article on Maryland Governor Larry Hogan

    Republican in a mostly blue state and vocal Trump critic who has definite 2024 ambitions
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    Former Maryland governor Larry Hogan flirted with running for president years before his term ended, openly weighing whether trying to persuade Republican primary voters to nominate an unabashed Donald Trump critic would be political suicide.

    As he left office Wednesday, it remained an open question whether the skills that catapulted Hogan to unusual popularity as the Republican governor of a Democratic state could be sold to a fractured GOP.


    Any presidential bid would be built on his tenure in Maryland, where he forged rapport with the electorate through his handling of crises and a skilled public relations operation, deploying populist policies such as cutting tolls and putting air conditioning in schools.

    Pragmatism drove him to embrace issues many other Republicans did not — early and widespread mask mandates, new taxes on insurance companies to keep down the cost of Affordable Care Act policies, gun-control laws and a ban on conversion therapy for gay teens, all while staring down cancer and clashing with his own party as a leading voice during the pandemic.

    He delivered tax relief for retirees in his final year in office and presided as federal pandemic aid bloated the state’s balance sheets with multibillion-dollar surpluses.


    Hogan used that popularity as a weapon and a shield.

    It insulated him from the fringes of his party, allowing him to largely sidestep culture-war issues that marked the GOP, instead appealing to the ideological middle. He both cajoled Democrats to his side and shrugged it off when he alienated others, particularly those in Baltimore.

    Former state comptroller Peter Franchot (D), who built a friendship with Hogan, described the governor as an executive who “put the interests of Marylanders over his own party’s interests.”


    Hogan’s strategy also elevated his own interests, raising his national profile as an early and sharp anti-Trump voice willing to criticize the party’s embrace of the former president’s rhetoric. Hogan’s approach politically benefited him, but it did not build up the Republican Party in Maryland.

    But he nonetheless opened a narrow lane in the national conversation about a future direction for the GOP, one that appeals to conservative Democrats and independents.

    At times, he contradicted himself as he followed public opinion — criticizing the removal of Confederate monuments as “political correctness run amok” but later organizing the overnight eradication of the most prominent one on State House grounds.

    Hogan said he has no regrets about his tenure, including a widely derided decision to cancel the $2.9 billion Red Line light rail — a critical transit project for economically challenged Baltimore that he denigrated as a “wasteful boondoggle.”


    “It wasn’t going to accomplish anything,” he said in an interview. “This is one of those things where progressive politicians and the Democratic Party in Baltimore continue to harp on this, and they think somehow it was a mistake. But I don’t think it was.”


    When the governor stumbled —for instance, spending nearly $9.5 million on coronavirus tests from South Korea that never worked, or having his signature transportation achievement, the Purple Line, 4.5 years behind schedule and $1.46 billion over budget — his job approval ratings did not falter much……..




     
    When former Maryland GOP Gov. Larry Hogan announced last week that he was running for the open Senate seat being vacated by retiring Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin, it came as a surprise to many.

    Hogan, a two-term governor who was elected twice in one of the bluest states in the country, had previously expressed little interest in a Senate run and instead flirted with a presidential candidacy.

    So on Friday, his entry into the race fueled talk of Hogan potentially doing what no other Maryland Republican has done since 1980: win a contested Senate contest.

    But winning a Senate race in a presidential year with an electorate that will lean to the left will be a tall order, even for someone like Hogan. Here's a look at why — despite Hogan's political strengths — Democrats will likely hold an edge in the race:

    As a moderate Republican who won over scores of independents and Democrats in his two gubernatorial bids in 2014 and 2018, Hogan has proven that he has crossover appeal.

    In a state where Democrats like President Joe Biden and Gov. Wes Moore both won with about 65% of the vote, Hogan's ability to reel in voters in key Democratic-leaning suburbs like Baltimore and Howard counties will likely force Democrats to invest more money into the race than they'd prefer.

    For Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who worked behind the scenes to get Hogan into the race, that reality is one that has the party excited at their chances.

    "To be competitive in a blue state like that is quite a boost for us," the Kentucky Republican told The Hill last week.

    Despite facing an overwhelmingly Democratic legislature in Annapolis that had the ability to override many of his vetoes, including ones expanding abortion access, Hogan remained popular through the end of his term. And as one of the most prominent Republican critics of former President Donald Trump, he can also point to his criticism of the ex-president as a sign of independence from the national party.

    However, Democrats have romped in federal elections in Maryland for decades, aided not only by their party registration edge in the state but also due to a sizable (roughly 32%) Black population that serves as the party's most loyal base of voters.

    The state's populous and prosperous suburbs around Washington and Baltimore serve as a bulwark for the party in national elections.

    And Republicans have not won a Senate race in Maryland since 1980, when Charles McC. Mathias was re-elected to a third term.

    Hogan has also never had to run for a major office in a presidential year, when he will have to work to convince Democrats to split their tickets, especially as Biden is poised to win Maryland again this November against Trump — an unpopular figure in the state..............

     
    Could have gone a few places
    =============

    ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Republicans hoping to pick up an open U.S. Senate seat in deep blue Maryland have the most competitive candidate they’ve fielded for decades. But former Gov. Larry Hogan will need more than GOP support to overcome sustained outrage about the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to strike down constitutional protections for abortion.

    With Maryland voters set to decide whether to enshrine the right to abortion in the state constitution in November, it may be harder for Hogan to reassemble the bipartisan coalition that elected him to the governor’s office in 2014 and kept him there four years later.

    His task was laid out vividly by Lynn Johnson Langer, a Democrat walking to lunch in downtown Annapolis several days after Hogan announced his Senate bid. Hogan is likable enough to have won her vote in his second campaign for governor, but the stakes are too high for her to support handing Republicans another win in a closely divided Senate.

    “We need more Democrats, so, sorry Hogan,” Langer said. ”I don’t think he’s a bad guy. Like I said, I don’t always agree with him. In fact, a lot I don’t agree with him.”

    Hogan’s decision to veto legislation to expand abortion access in Maryland in 2022 lingers with voters like Langer. She supports abortion rights unequivocally and said she probably will back a candidate who doesn’t hedge.

    Hogan has said he does not support taking abortion rights away, even though he personally opposes abortion. However, as governor, he vetoed legislation to end a restriction that only physicians provide abortions. When his veto was overridden by Democrats who control the Legislature, he used the power of his office to block funding set aside to support training non-physicians to perform them.…….

     
    Could have gone a few places
    =============

    ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Republicans hoping to pick up an open U.S. Senate seat in deep blue Maryland have the most competitive candidate they’ve fielded for decades. But former Gov. Larry Hogan will need more than GOP support to overcome sustained outrage about the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to strike down constitutional protections for abortion.

    With Maryland voters set to decide whether to enshrine the right to abortion in the state constitution in November, it may be harder for Hogan to reassemble the bipartisan coalition that elected him to the governor’s office in 2014 and kept him there four years later.

    His task was laid out vividly by Lynn Johnson Langer, a Democrat walking to lunch in downtown Annapolis several days after Hogan announced his Senate bid. Hogan is likable enough to have won her vote in his second campaign for governor, but the stakes are too high for her to support handing Republicans another win in a closely divided Senate.

    “We need more Democrats, so, sorry Hogan,” Langer said. ”I don’t think he’s a bad guy. Like I said, I don’t always agree with him. In fact, a lot I don’t agree with him.”

    Hogan’s decision to veto legislation to expand abortion access in Maryland in 2022 lingers with voters like Langer. She supports abortion rights unequivocally and said she probably will back a candidate who doesn’t hedge.

    Hogan has said he does not support taking abortion rights away, even though he personally opposes abortion. However, as governor, he vetoed legislation to end a restriction that only physicians provide abortions. When his veto was overridden by Democrats who control the Legislature, he used the power of his office to block funding set aside to support training non-physicians to perform them.…….

    Hogan isn’t who I thought he was at first. He’s not worth trust.
     
    Hogan isn’t who I thought he was at first. He’s not worth trust.

    Yup, he lost me when he stated he would vote for Trump if he were the R candidate.....another party over country buffoon.....
     
    Could have gone a few places
    =============

    ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Republicans hoping to pick up an open U.S. Senate seat in deep blue Maryland have the most competitive candidate they’ve fielded for decades. But former Gov. Larry Hogan will need more than GOP support to overcome sustained outrage about the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to strike down constitutional protections for abortion.

    With Maryland voters set to decide whether to enshrine the right to abortion in the state constitution in November, it may be harder for Hogan to reassemble the bipartisan coalition that elected him to the governor’s office in 2014 and kept him there four years later.

    His task was laid out vividly by Lynn Johnson Langer, a Democrat walking to lunch in downtown Annapolis several days after Hogan announced his Senate bid. Hogan is likable enough to have won her vote in his second campaign for governor, but the stakes are too high for her to support handing Republicans another win in a closely divided Senate.

    “We need more Democrats, so, sorry Hogan,” Langer said. ”I don’t think he’s a bad guy. Like I said, I don’t always agree with him. In fact, a lot I don’t agree with him.”

    Hogan’s decision to veto legislation to expand abortion access in Maryland in 2022 lingers with voters like Langer. She supports abortion rights unequivocally and said she probably will back a candidate who doesn’t hedge.

    Hogan has said he does not support taking abortion rights away, even though he personally opposes abortion. However, as governor, he vetoed legislation to end a restriction that only physicians provide abortions. When his veto was overridden by Democrats who control the Legislature, he used the power of his office to block funding set aside to support training non-physicians to perform them.…….




    ……There is, of course, a catch: As a Republican seeking to take a Democratic-held Senate seat while the chamber is a 51-49 Democrat-Republican split, Hogan would essentially guarantee that such legislation never makes it to the floor by virtue of simply being elected and throwing control of the body to the GOP.

    For the ex-governor to actually cast that vote, he would have to be elected into a chamber still held by Democrats — meaning, simply, the president’s party would have to pick up another seat elsewhere.

    And it would be largely pointless for that vote to take place in such a scenario anyway; legislation codifying abortion rights into law would require 60 votes, and even with Hogan’s affirmative vote the chamber would still likely be short of the threshold.

    But the ad’s aim is simple: to convince the moderate Democrats and independents who voted for Hogan in his two bids for the governor’s mansion to back his candidacy once again.

    The message? Larry Hogan wants to remind voters that he is a moderate, the kind of Republican that could only win a primary in a Democratic stronghold like Maryland……


     
    To be fair, McAuliffe shot himself in the foot by focusing too much on Trump instead of on issues affecting Virginia until it was too late.
    Yes true. But an informed electorate would not have voted Youngkin in.
     
    To be fair, McAuliffe shot himself in the foot by focusing too much on Trump instead of on issues affecting Virginia until it was too late.
    @DaveXA would know better than me but I remember Youngkin presenting himself as 'Trump in a Mr. Rogers cardigan'

    And I'll always believe that McAuliffe's fatal error was the comment about parents and schools, it seems after that it was all Youngkin talked about
     
    I live in Prince George's County where Alsobrooks is well known and well liked, I don't know how she's received in the rest of the state but she very easily beat billionaire (and Total Wine owner) David Trone in the primaries

    I'd say Hogan was liked as governor but not beloved. People definitely appreciate that he's one of the few to go publicly against Trump, gloriously when he hid the cache of facemasks during the pandemic

    I don't think the race will be as close as this article suggests though, I think that mostly democratic Maryland understands the stakes and importance of keeping control of the Senate

    ============================

    A race for US Senate in deep-blue Maryland remains in a dead heat thanks to the persistence of a well-known Republican candidate, complicating the electoral map for Democrats this fall.

    Larry Hogan’s campaign for the state’s open Senate seat held by retiring Senator Ben Cardin is tied with his opponent, Angela Alsobrooks, according to an AARP poll of likely voters, with both candidates sitting at 46 percent in the race.

    The hotly contested race comes as little surprise to Marylanders, who know Hogan from his two terms as governor where he enjoyed some of the highest popularity ratings of any state leader in the country. He was widely viewed as the only Republican with a serious chance of winning the seat before the governor announced his candidacy.

    Alsobrooks, meanwhile, remains a relatively lower-profile politician for voters outside of Prince George’s County where she has served as executive. What she lacks in statewide recognition, however, she makes up with strong ties to the national Democratic Party as well the Maryland Democratic political machine. She has allies in not just Kamala Harris, the top of her party’s ticket, but also incumbent Maryland Governor Wes Moore, who is popular in his own right and has been eyed as a possible national candidate too.

    Aside from the hand-wringing it will inevitably cause at DNC headquarters, the poll lays out a picture of a race which is clearly winnable for either candidate, though they will have to pursue markedly different goals to do so. But it does mean one thing for sure: Democrats will have to spend money to protect a Senate seat they otherwise would have been able to write off as a safe hold.

    Hogan, as a well-known former governor representing a party which has become deeply unpopular in the state, needs to continue making the case for voters to separate him from Donald Trump and MAGA Republicanism in their minds. He also needs to convince winnable Democrats who supported his two bids for the governor’s mansion that his presence in the Senate — which could shift control of the chamber into Republican hands — that a vote for him is a vote for a candidate who will stand up to that potential GOP majority.

    “I’m going to be a guy that’s willing to stand up to both parties and try to represent all the people in Maryland,” he told The Independent in an interview earlier this month.

    Alsobrooks, meanwhile, has ground to make up with Democrats as well, though for a different reason. Despite having an unfavorability rating lower than 20 percent, the Prince George’s county executive is only viewed favorably by four in ten voters — meaning that a sizable majority doesn’t know her at all.

    Her work over the next few months is to introduce herself to as many voters as possible, while also linking her campaign closely to Kamala Harris and the Democratic ticket as a whole.

     
    The survey, conducted by Gonzales Research & Media Services, found Alsobrooks leading with 46 percent of statewide voters compared to Hogan’s 41 percent if the election were held today. Eleven percent of respondents said they were still undecided.

    More than 70 percent of Democrats said they would support Alsobrooks, but 21 percent said they could cast their ballot for Hogan. Likewise, 82 percent of Republican voters said they would support Hogan and just 5 percent backed Alsobrooks.

    Hogan also has the edge among independent voters: 31 percent of independents said they will vote for Alsobrooks and 41 percent said they will vote for the former governor. Twenty-eight percent of independents were undecided, according to the survey, which was first reportedby The Washington Post.……

     

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