Incumbent Gov. Larry Hogan glided to re-election in Maryland on Tuesday, becoming the first Republican governor to be re-elected in the state in 64 years.
Hogan easily survived a challenge from Democrat Ben Jealous, whom Hogan’s campaign described as “extreme.” Jealous, the former head of the NAACP, would have been the state’s first African-American governor.
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Hogan, who distanced himself from President Trump, has led Jealous in the polls by double digits, despite the state leaning Democrat.
The governor also had a huge financial advantage over Jealous. Hogan raised $19.2 million, with nearly $5 million of that in the last four months, according to the Washington Post. Jealous raised $2.9 million since June and ended October with $275,000 cash on hand, compared with Hogan’s $3.3 million.
“This is not your typical fight between Republicans and Democrats. This is about Maryland’s future. We put together this group, Change Maryland, that was mostly Democrats and Independents and Republicans, as well, nonpartisan, that’s how I got elected,” Hogan told WBAL NewsRadio 1090’s “The C4 Show” on Nov. 1.
“I think we’re setting an example for the rest of the nation for how you can stop the divisiveness and the anger and the extremism and sit down and get stuff done and get bipartisan, commonsense solutions,” he said.
