Trump endorses former Maryland governor Larry Hogan’s Senate bid

Republican former Gov. Larry Hogan, one of former President Donald Trump’s fiercest critics in the GOP, has received Trump’s endorsement in his Maryland Senate bid

Trump endorses former Maryland governor Larry Hogan’s Senate bidThe Associated PressANNAPOLIS, Md.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Republican former Gov. Larry Hogan, who has been one of former President Donald Trump’s fiercest critics in the GOP, received Trump’s endorsement in his Maryland Senate bid on Thursday in an interview on Fox News.

“I’d like to see him win,” Trump told the network during a trip to Washington, D.C. “I think he has a good chance to win.”

The Maryland race could determine control of the Senate, a point Trump noted in the interview.

“I would like to see him win, and we got to take the majority. We have to straighten out our country, so I’d like to see him win,” Trump said.

Hogan, who was a popular governor, is trying to become the first Republican in more than 40 years to win a Senate seat in Maryland, where Democrats outnumber Republicans by a 2-1 ratio statewide.

Late last month, Hogan angered Trump’s campaign when he said that the public should “respect the verdict and the legal process” prior to Trump’s conviction by a Manhattan jury on 34 felony counts related to hush money payments.

“At this dangerously divided moment in our history, all leaders — regardless of party — must not pour fuel on the fire with more toxic partisanship,” Hogan posted on X before the verdict was announced. “We must reaffirm what has made this nation great: the rule of law.”

Chris LaCivita, a senior Trump campaign adviser, shot back on X: “You just ended your campaign.”

Hogan, who is trying to navigate a difficult path running in a heavily Democratic state, has said he will not be attending the Republican National Convention next month in Milwaukee, July 15-18. Hogan also did not attend the party’s conventions in 2020 and 2016.

In the past two presidential elections, Hogan said he did not vote for Trump, the party nominee. Hogan said he wrote in the name of his father, former U.S. Rep. Larry Hogan Sr., in 2016 and the late President Ronald Reagan in 2020.

Hogan is running against Democrat Angela Alsobrooks, the chief executive of Prince George’s County near the nation’s capital. The Senate seat is open due to the retirement of Sen. Ben Cardin, a Democrat.