Republican Senate candidate Larry Hogan released a campaign ad Tuesday depicting scenes of “horror” from the Jan. 6, 2021, riots at the U.S. Capitol and claiming he was an “early critic” of former President Donald Trump.
In the TV spot, a narrator calls the former two-term Maryland governor “one of the few Republicans who never caved to Trump,” against a backdrop of headlines calling Hogan a “non-Trump Republican” and “the face” of the anti-Trump GOP.
“And on January 6th, as we watched in horror, Hogan didn’t just talk about defending democracy, he did something — he sent the Maryland National Guard to protect the Capitol,” the narrator says, alongside footage of rioters storming the Capitol. Hogan sent 500 National Guard members and 200 state troopers to D.C. that day.
The ad, titled “Never Backs Down,” also promotes Hogan as a “bipartisan” and “independent” leader who managed the 2015 “Baltimore riots” and his cancer diagnosis early in his first term.
Hogan is the only GOP Senate candidate this cycle who has made a significant break with Trump, as he is running for statewide office in a solidly blue state. He also appears to be the first Republican to latch onto imagery that Democrats have used to highlight chaos and extremism on the right. Hogan has previously blamed Trump for the events of Jan. 6.
According to the Washington Post, the commercial is part of an $8 million general election ad campaign targeting Democrat Angela Alsobrooks, who spent $1 million on ads.
Hogan left office as Maryland governor in 2022 with high approval ratings, but he sought to distance himself from Trump and the national GOP when he ran for federal office in a state where Democrats significantly outnumber Republicans.
In March, Hogan, who previously considered running for president in 2024 on a third-party ticket, said he would not vote for Trump. He also did not appear at the Republican National Convention, where Republicans celebrated Trump as he accepted the party’s presidential nomination.
An August public opinion poll on Maryland’s Senate race put Hogan in a tie with Alsobrooks, who has taken out ads reminding voters that Hogan is a “lifelong Republican.” Democrats have tried to tie Hogan to the national GOP, even though the former governor has shifted left on abortion rights after vetoing legislation in 2022 that would have expanded abortion access in the state.
Democrats are defending their 51-49 majority in the Senate and cannot afford to lose Maryland while also battling for seats in the Trump-backed states of Montana and Ohio.
