GAITHERSBURG, Maryland — Maryland Republican Senate nominee Larry Hogan is doubling down on his pledge to not support either major party's presidential nominee despite Vice President Kamala Harris replacing President Joe Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket.
The former two-term centrist governor told the Washington Examiner on Monday he considered Harris’s record too extreme to earn his vote.
“I don't plan to vote for either of the two major party candidates, and that hasn't changed at all,” Hogan said. “Harris's policies are disastrous, far-left policies.”
Hogan, known for his vocal disdain of former President Donald Trump, borrowed an attack line other Republicans have used on the campaign trail to tie Harris back to her more liberal California roots as San Francisco's district attorney.
“I ran for governor because they were calling Maryland the California of the East, and I tried to change that,” he said. “I still don't want to follow San Francisco policies, and I think that some of the policies are wrong for America.”
He did offer some praise for Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA), who is on Harris's short list as a potential vice presidential candidate. As the former chairman of the National Governors Association, Hogan said he believes being governor acts as a “great training ground for that kind of a position in the Executive Branch” and drew personal similarities to Shapiro’s more centrist politics.
“Gov. Shapiro happens to have a lot of politics a lot like me. He's a moderate who tries to govern from the middle. He was the first in the country to follow our initiatives on removing the college degree requirement for state jobs,” Hogan said. “I think he's trying to follow our playbook a little bit.”
Hogan is looking to pull off an upset victory against his Democratic opponent, Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks, to be the successor of retiring Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) for a seat that could determine which party will control the Senate.
Harris is a close ally to Alsobrooks, who has campaigned alongside the vice president this year.
Hogan said that while he “likes and respects” Alsobrooks, “there's no question that her policies are far left.”
“She is as far left or to the left of Kamala Harris,” Hogan said of his opponent. “I don't think that represents the average Marylander.”
In a statement to the Washington Examiner, the Alsobrooks campaign accused Hogan of being all talk when it comes to standing up to Trump.
“In other words, Larry Hogan won’t vote for the person who is running against Donald Trump. Same as in 2020," Alsobrooks campaign deputy communications director Jackie Bush said. "Whenever there’s a chance to take action against Trump, as opposed to just rhetoric, Larry folds.”
The Democrats’ strategy against Hogan has centered on painting him as a Republican who may not back the Trump-supporting wing of the party but would enable it in the Senate by giving the group more power and potentially control of the chamber. Democrats say abortion rights, in particular, would be on the line because they’d use Hogan to pass national restrictions, a position he has repeatedly rejected and says he would not support.
Hogan vowed to act as a “maverick” in Washington who “stands up to everybody.”
“I think [Alsobrooks] wants the race to be about red vs. blue and just Democrat vs. Republican,” Hogan said. “I think it's about issues that people care about, and I think it's about our records and what we say we're going to do when we get to Washington.”
Democrats have seen a surge of excitement from the base in the wake of Biden’s exit from the race, giving the party new hope for winning elections in November up and down the ballot. It’s likely to make Hogan’s challenge of flipping a Maryland Senate seat red for the first time in four decades all the more challenging.
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Hogan acknowledged that “there’s been a bit of a bump” but downplayed any lasting effects as a temporary “sugar high” or “honeymoon period” that will subside after the Democratic National Convention in Chicago later this month.
“I think most people start focusing on who they're going to be voting for in different races maybe after Labor Day,” Hogan said. “I don't think it's going to have much impact on our race. We're running a completely different kind of race, and I'm not running to for one party or for one other particular person. I've never been one that kind of kowtows to the party bosses.”
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