ANNAPOLIS, Maryland — Larry Hogan won the Maryland Republican primary for U.S. Senate on Tuesday, beating six GOP opponents that proved to be little competition for the former two-term governor.
The Associated Press called the race for Hogan at 8:38 p.m., less than an hour after the polls closed in Maryland. With only a quarter of the ballots counted, Hogan led with 68% of the vote.
“They said the Hogan brand of politics was dead,” he told supporters gathered for a victory party in the state’s capital after entering the stage to the tune of the “Rocky” theme song “Gonna Fly Now.” “Well, once again, we proved them wrong.”
Hogan will face Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks, who won a competitive Democratic primary against Rep. David Trone (D-MD), in the November general election.
Known for his staunch dislike of the former president, a senior Hogan campaign adviser said Tuesday night’s primary victory will “give hope to a lot of people across the country who want to see the Republican Party move past Trump.”
Hogan’s most serious GOP challenger, perennial candidate and former Maryland House member Robin Ficker, vowed in ads to “stand with Trump” and repeatedly whacked Hogan for his criticism of the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.
Despite Maryland’s deep blue voting habits, Hogan has catapulted the Old Line State’s Senate race to one of the most closely watched in the country and presents Republicans with an unexpected opportunity to flip a seat they once considered out of reach as they try to knock Democrats from Senate majority control.
The open Senate seat is currently held by longtime Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD), who is not seeking reelection and is retiring from Congress at the age of 80.
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Hogan has leaned on his centrist political messaging and critique of Republicans and Democrats in Washington throughout the campaign as he’s tried to woo voters of both parties.
“The voices of the exhausted majority are often ignored in deference to the demands of the loudest and angriest few who seem hell-bent on tearing America apart,” Hogan said. “Like you, I am completely fed-up with politics-as-usual in Washington where the politicians — on both sides — seem to be more interested in attacking each other than in actually getting anything done for the people they represent.”
