Hogan shakes up Maryland Senate race as Democrats wrestle over their nominee

BALTIMORE, MD CNN —

Former Republican Gov. Larry Hogan passed on a bid for a Maryland Senate seat last cycle, insisting he had no ambitions to serve in higher office. And even up until early this year, Hogan was still signaling he wasn’t interested.

But after years of entreaties from Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell and other top Republicans – and even a direct sales pitch from former President George W. Bush – Hogan finally relented in February, jumping into the Senate race at the very last minute and widening the GOP’s path to the majority this fall.

“I still don’t have any burning desire to be a senator. I wasn’t looking for a title. I don’t need a job. But I’m just so frustrated with how broken our political system is,” Hogan said in an interview with CNN during a campaign stop at a food market in Baltimore last week. “George Bush was a pretty good salesperson trying to convince me that the party and the country needed me, and I would have had an important voice that I can make a difference.”

The surprise entrance of Hogan, a popular former governor and prized recruit for Republican leaders, has shaken up race to replace retiring Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin this November, when control for the Senate is up for grabs. The longtimesafe blue seat, in a state President Joe Biden carried by over 30 points in 2020, is now suddenly competitive, complicating the calculus for Democrats as they look to defend around half a dozen more vulnerable seats in order to retain their slim Senate majority.

Meanwhile, Democrats remain divided over who to select as their nominee in the May 14 primary. It’s become an increasingly contentious two-way contest between Rep. David Trone, a three-term congressman and founder of the