Larry Hogan, the Republican governor of Maryland, said he will not challenge President Trump for the White House next year.
“I’m not going to be a candidate for president in 2020,” he told the Washington Post. Hogan said he made the decision after conversations with his family over the past week.
The popular Maryland governor’s refusal to run will be a disappointment to Republican critics of the president, who had hoped for a strong primary challenge to the divisive commander in chief.
Hogan, 62, previously insisted he is not interested in launching a kamikaze mission against Trump, who is popular with Republican voters and has won over some previously skeptical party bigwigs. Never Trump Republicans insist the commander in chief is weaker than he appears.
As recently as April, Hogan admitted he was taking consideration of a 2020 bid “more seriously.” Hogan had been holding regular meetings with his political team to pore over data and mull how a campaign against Trump might unfold. He also used previously scheduled travel to more than a dozen states, including an invitation to Utah to attend Sen. Mitt Romney’s annual summit with top Republican insiders, to meet with political operatives, donors, and business leaders.
Hogan, who was elected to a second term as governor in deep-blue Maryland last year, cited his roles as chief executive of Maryland and vice chairman of the National Governors Association as the reasons why he decided against a run. “I have a commitment to the 6 million people of Maryland and a lot of work to do, things we haven’t completed,” Hogan said.
Hogan is launching an advocacy organization that he said would attempt to “transcend partisanship” called An America United. He also offered some advice to the GOP.
“We need to have a bigger tent and find a way to get things done,” Hogan said. “We need some civility and bipartisanship. Our politics are broken. Washington is broken. But we have a story to tell.”
Trump will kick off his 2020 campaign for reelection on June 18 in Orlando, Fla. So far, only former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld is challenging Trump for the nomination in a long shot bid. Another potential challenger, former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, Friday dismissed the chance of a 2020 run, at least for the time being, telling CNN, “I don’t see a way to get there.”
More than 20 Democrats are vying for the Democratic nomination, led by former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Hogan did not dismiss a run for president in a future election and predicted the Republican Party will move on from Trumpism one day. “I believe there’s going to be a future in the Republican Party beyond President Trump,” Hogan said. “It’s either going to be next year or four years later. But at some point we’re going to be looking for what the future is going to be like.”
