Marylanders love Republican Gov. Larry Hogan, but his home-state prospects are dim in a primary fight against President Trump.
A Gonzales Research and Media Services poll found Trump would clobber Hogan with 68% of the vote in a state primary, while Hogan, now serving his second term, would garner a mere 24%.
The survey results come as a swath of Never Trump conservatives look for a Republican rival to Trump.
It’s not that state voters dislike Hogan. In fact, the polls shows Hogan enjoys high approval ratings from voters in both parties.
Hogan won an overall approval rating of 76% from Maryland voters — 74% from Democrats, 77% from Republicans, and 82% among unaffiliated voters.
But it’s not enough to give Hogan an advantage against Trump, who earned a 78% approval rating among GOP voters in Maryland.
[Related: Republican Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan has a super PAC]
Hogan is weighing a GOP primary challenge and takes regular jabs at Trump.
In Manchester, N.H., last month, Hogan told an audience he is seriously considering challenging the president for the Republican nomination and that more people are urging him to get into the race in the wake of the recently released Mueller report into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
But Republican primary voters in Maryland aren’t interested in Hogan getting into the race, the poll indicates.
Trump beat Hogan 62% to 28% among woman, 74% to 20% among men, and 75% to 21% among older GOP primary voters.
“Republican primary voters in Maryland like President Donald Trump, Republican primary voters in Maryland like Gov. Larry Hogan,” pollster Patrick Gonzales told the Washington Examiner.
“It appears, based on these results, they would like both to continue in their respective roles.”
