Gov. Hogan Celebrates 'Landslide' Primary Win

ANNAPOLIS, MD — As results from the primary election rolled in across Maryland Tuesday night, Gov. Larry Hogan celebrated with a victory party at Union Jack's in Annapolis. Hogan ran unopposed for the Republican nomination, while nine candidates vied to challenge him in November.

The governor, who has widespread approval among both Democrats and Republicans, joked: "There are six percent of the people in Maryland who strongly disapprove of the job we've been doing, and every single one of them was running for governor."

After announcing "the returns are in and thanks to all of you we have won a landslide victory tonight," Hogan thanked his campaign team, whose members were "working every single day like we're 20 points behind."

His speech was interrupted by chants of "four more years."

Despite the fact that he was not running against anyone in the primary for the Republican nomination, Hogan said that he went across the state shaking hands and campaigning.

"We're going to every single county, we're fighting for every single vote," Hogan said in an interview with WBAL afterward. "We're not taking anything for granted."

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Hogan said that 75 percent of Marylanders, including two-thirds of Democrats, approved of the job he and his administration have been doing. He was referencing the Gonzales Poll released June 12. It said that 90 percent of Republicans and 67 percent of Democrats approve of the job Hogan is doing as governor.

"The politics that divide our nation need not divide our state," Hogan said Tuesday night, reiterating a call for bipartisanship that he made when he first ran for office.

The race is "not about Democrats versus Republicans," Hogan said, but a "referendum on the job that we've been doing together, and it's about the future and direction of our state."

Taxes, tolls and fees were cut four years in a row, he said, and money was reinvested into the economy during the four years he had been in office. "I know this doesn't usually happen in politics, but we've been doing exactly what we said we were going to do," Hogan said. "Let's continue changing Maryland for the better."

Hours after the polls closed Tuesday night, former NAACP president Ben Jealous emerged as the Democratic gubernatorial nominee.

In a congratulatory tweet to Jealous, Hogan said: "I look forward to a vigorous debate on the direction of our state and the issues that matter most to Marylanders."

Congratulations to @BenJealous on a hard fought victory. I look forward to a vigorous debate on the direction of our state and the issues that matter most to Marylanders. #MDGov #MDPolitics
— Larry Hogan (@LarryHogan) June 27, 2018

By Wednesday morning, Hogan released a video with his take on his opponent.

The general election is Nov. 6. Early voting starts Oct. 25.

• MD Primary Election 2018 Results: Ben Jealous To Face Gov. Hogan
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Photo courtesy of Gov. Larry Hogan.