Former President Donald Trump all but endorsed the U.S. Senate campaign of Maryland Republican Larry Hogan on Thursday, but it is unclear whether his statements will help or hurt Hogan, who has long been a political opponent.
“I think he has a good chance of winning,” Republican Trump told Fox News in an interview on the network’s website. “I would like to see him win.”
The statements by Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee at the party’s July convention, were a surprise. Hogan, who is running for Senate against Democratic Prince George’s Office director Angela Alsobrooks, is a persistent Trump critic.
Trump was on Capitol Hill on Thursday to shore up his party’s support.
The Democratic Party of Maryland quickly released a statement saying that “Donald Trump endorsed Larry Hogan because he wants a Senate majority beholden to Trump. Maryland voters know what is at stake in this election and will vote to stop a Republican takeover of Washington.”
Because Democrats enjoy a voter registration advantage of more than 2-1 in the state, Hogan, a former two-term governor, will need to capture a significant number of Democrats and unaffiliated voters to win. Trump is deeply unpopular among Democrats in Maryland, and Hogan has not only avoided Trump but has presented himself as largely independent of the Republican Party.
But a Trump endorsement could help Hogan with Trump backers in regions like the Eastern Shore, Western Maryland and parts of Baltimore County, where the Republican Party holds sway.
Hogan’s brand has long distinguished itself from the Republican Party. He actively opposes Trump and portrays himself as a solution-oriented anti-politician. He served until December as co-chair of the third-party No Labels movement, which tried unsuccessfully to recruit a 2024 presidential candidate.
Hogan declined to endorse Trump during the Republican primaries when the former president was challenged by former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley and others.
Then, last month, Hogan released a statement as the jury was about to hand down a verdict, making Trump the first former president to be convicted of a felony.
“Regardless of the outcome, I urge all Americans to respect the verdict and the legal process,” the statement on social media said.
Trump’s co-campaign manager Chris LaCivita responded to X, telling Hogan, “You just ended your campaign.” Michael Caputo, a former Trump administration official, responded to Hogan by telling Trump’s followers, “End his campaign, MAGA.”
Hogan has sometimes compared Trump’s style to that of former Republican President Ronald Reagan, suggesting that Reagan’s more tempered approach was preferable for the country because he was not focused on scoring partisan points. In the 2020 presidential election, Hogan said he cast a symbolic vote for Reagan, who died in 2004.
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