Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said Tuesday he will not be seeking the GOP's 2024 nomination for Senate, leaving Republicans without a candidate who has had statewide election success.
The Maryland seat became a prime opening for the GOP when Democrat Ben Cardin said Monday he would not be seeking reelection. Democrats have a slim two-person majority in the Senate, and with 20 Democratic senators up for reelection, some in states former President Donald Trump won in 2020, there are fears they might lose control of the chamber.
Even though Maryland is a heavily Democratic state, Hogan won two terms as governor, including in 2018, when he garnered the most votes of any gubernatorial candidate in state history, up to that point.
"I'm getting a lot of calls about that," Hogan, a centrist governor and frequent Trump critic, told The Hill. "I'm getting called by senators, and donors, and I'm getting lots of inquiries from the media, but the thing that surprised me the most was that my wife said, 'Why don't you run for the Senate?'
"I told her she was crazy. I mean, I didn't have any interest in being a senator."
He said being a senator is far different than being a governor.
"You're one of 100 people arguing all day," he told The Hill. "Not a lot gets done in the Senate, and most former governors that I know that go into the Senate aren't thrilled with the job."
Hogan, who also floated a possible run for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination before bowing out, said he believes he could win the Senate race, but that it would be tough.
"In a presidential year, it makes it even more difficult," he said. "But it's not something I'm pursuing."
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