Republican Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan on Sunday said that he refused to support the GOP's nominee to fill his job, predicting that the party has "no chance of saving that governor seat."
The lawmaker's remarks were made during an interview where he said that Trump-backed state Del. Dan Cox's win over Hogan's preferred candidate in the July 19 primary was a "win for the Democrats." He called it a big loss for the Republican Party and argued that the right has no chance of winning the election.
Hogan vs Cox
The Maryland governor accused the Democratic Governors Association, which ran ads boosting Cox in hopes of landing Democrats an easier general election opponent, of colluding with former President Trump, who is a critic of the Republican governor, to boost the candidate.
Hogan endorsed Kelly Schulz, a former state lawmaker, and Maryland commerce secretary, who lost to Cox. While the votes are still being counted, Schulz trails Cox by more than 10 percentage points in the latest vote count.
The governor on Sunday reiterated his belief that Cox was unqualified and said he would not vote for him. However, he added that he has not yet decided whether or not he will back the Democrat in the contest, Wes Moore, as per Politico.
Hogan also called Cox a "QAnon whack job" and argued that his win was from unprecedented collusion between the Democratic Governors Associations and the former president.
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The Maryland governor added that he believes the DGA had spent $3 million to help advertise Cox while the candidate himself spent only $100,000. Cox won the primary with Trump's endorsement as he continued to support the former president's baseless claims about a stolen 2020 presidential election.
According to The Hill, Hogan said, "There's no question that we lost a battle, and we're losing a few battles. But the fight is long. It's not, it's long from being over. I mean, we have another couple of years before the next election. There's going to be a long battle for the heart and soul of the Republican Party. And this is just the beginning.
The Republican Party
The governor said that after the midterms, the GOP will have to reassess itself, arguing that lawmakers would have to think about the election two years after. He questioned whether the Republican Party will be able to go back to a more Reagan-esque big tent party that appeals to more people or go to double down on failure.
Hogan added that he was planning to "double down" on his long-term fight to pull the Republican Party in a different direction. He said that he wanted to fight back against what he considered was a "hostile takeover" of the party that he loves.
The Maryland governor has been weighing a potential presidential bid after he leaves office in January, seeking a path for his brand of pragmatic conservatism in a party still under the sway of former President Trump. It comes as he did not view Cox's win as a personal political loss, the Washington Post reported.
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