Larry Hogan releases ad touting support for codifying Roe as he faces uphill climb to the Senate

Maryland’s Republican nominee for the US Senate is pursuing a unique strategy: come out swinging — on defense.

Larry Hogan debuted his first ad of the 2024 general election cycle on Tuesday in which the former two-term governor ofa solidly blue state finally made clear his stance on abortion rights: if elected, he will vote for legislation that would codify the protections for abortion rights in Roe vs Wade, the landmark Supreme Court case overturned in 2022, into federal law.

“As governor, I promised to uphold Maryland law on abortion while providing over-the-counter birth control covered by insurance. And I kept my word,” says the governor.

He then goes on: “With Roe overturned, many have asked what I’ll do in the United States Senate. I’ll support legislation that makes Roe the law of the land in every state, so every woman can make her own choice.”

“No one should come between a woman and her doctor,” he also says in the ad.

There is, of course, a catch: As a Republican seeking to take a Democratic-held Senate seat while the chamber is a 51-49 Democrat-Republican split, Hogan would essentially guarantee that such legislation never makes it to the floor by virtue of simply being elected and throwing control of the body to the GOP.

For the ex-governor to actually cast that vote, he would have to be elected into a chamber still held by Democrats — meaning, simply, the president’s party would have to pick up another seat elsewhere. And it would be largely pointless for that vote to take place in such a scenario anyway; legislation codifying abortion rights into law would require 60 votes, and even with Hogan’s affirmative vote the chamber would still likely be short of the threshold.

But the ad’s aim is simple: to