Former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, a vocal GOP critic of Donald Trump, said he will not seek the Republican presidential nomination in 2024 because he doesn’t want divide the Republican field and help to hand Trump a victory.
(Bloomberg) — Former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, a vocal GOP critic of Donald Trump, said he will not seek the Republican presidential nomination in 2024 because he doesn’t want divide the Republican field and help to hand Trump a victory.
“There are several competent Republican leaders who have the potential to step up and lead,” Hogan said in a guest essay on Sunday in the New York Times. “But the stakes are too high for me to risk being part of another multi-car pileup that could potentially help Mr. Trump recapture the nomination.”
Hogan, a popular two-term Maryland governor who left office in January because of term limits, had been laying the groundwork for a presidential bid. “The more of them you have, the less chance you have for somebody rising up,” he told CBS News in a “Face the Nation” interview that aired Sunday.
Two other possible Republican contenders pushed back on that idea. “I actually think that more voices right now in opposition or providing an alternative to Donald Trump is the best thing and the right direction,” former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” He said he’ll decide about a possible 2024 bid in April.
New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu, another possible Trump rival, wouldn’t commit to a timeline for his decision to get in the race — but said it was just important to know when to get out.
“You can’t tell people not to run. If someone really wants to run, they’re going to run, and that’s fine,” he said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday. “But unlike 2016, I’m going to make sure, and I think other folks are going to make sure, that we all have the discipline to get out before it’s too late.”
For his part, Trump has said “the more the merrier” because he’s hoping a large field will help him win the nomination with a mere plurality, just as he did in 2016 when 17 major GOP candidates ran.
The first declared GOP candidates are former South Carolina Governor and Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, Ohio anti-ESG crusader Vivek Ramaswamy and Michigan businessman Perry Johnson. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is widely expected to jump into the race sometime after the Florida legislative session ends in May.
Other Republicans considering a White House bid include former Vice President Mike Pence; former Secretary of State Michael Pompeo; US Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina; former governors Chris Christie of New Jersey; and governors Kristi Noem of South Dakota and Glenn Youngkin of Virginia.
Trump promised at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Saturday night to “finish what we started” in another term, vowing to run even if he’s indicted and despite polls showing many GOP voters want an alternative.
Hogan said in the New York Times essay that he believes “the tides are finally turning” and that Republican voters are “growing tired of the drama and are open to new leadership” — and to win again after three successive disappointing federal elections under Trump.
But he stopped short of endorsing a specific alternative to Trump. He told CBS that DeSantis “wants to be the younger version of Donald Trump” and criticized some of the Florida governor’s “heavy-handed” policies in going after companies like the Walt Disney Co.
“My point is you have to focus on swing voters as well or else we’ll have Joe Biden as president,” he said.
–With assistance from Ian Fisher.
(Updates with Hutchinson and Sununu comments starting in third paragraph.)
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