Larry Hogan Rules Out Presidential Run In 2024

ANNAPOLIS, MD — After months of serious deliberation and visits to early caucus and primary states, former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said he has decided not to seek the Republican nomination for president in 2024.

He called the decision not to jump into the fray the "toughest decision I ever made," but he made it in order to help prevent former President Donald Trump from winning another nomination.

Hogan has been a continuous critic of Trump, and refused to vote for his party leader in both 2016 and 2020. He blames Trump for the GOP's failure to capture a majority in the U.S. Senate in November, and losses in the last three election cycles prompted Hogan's consideration of a run for the nation's highest office.

"I've decided that I will not be a candidate for the Republican nomination for president," Hogan said in an interview with CBS News.

But Hogan worried that a large field of Republican contenders will allow Trump to win the GOP presidential nomination.

"I didn't want to have a pile up of a bunch of people fighting," Hogan said of the major factor in his decision not to run for president. "Right now, you have, you know, Trump and DeSantis at the top of the field, they're soaking up all the oxygen, getting all the attention. And then a whole lot of the rest of us in single digits, and the more of them you have, the less chance you have for somebody rising up."

He added, "After eight years of pouring my heart and soul into serving the people of Maryland, I have no desire to put my family through another grueling campaign just for the experience."

While he has not announced a presidential candidacy, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida is the frontrunner in polling among Republicans for 2024. Hogan called the governor, who just won a second term in office, a formidable challenger.

Declared candidates seeking the nomination so far includes Trump and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley. Possible contenders are New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, former Vice President Mike Pence, and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who served in the Trump administration.

Hogan left office last month because of term limits, with poll numbers showing he remained one of the nation's most popular governors. The moderate Republican received generally positive remarks for his leadership during the coronavirus pandemic and his push to get Marylanders vaccinated and cut taxes.

He warned that if Trump wins the Republican nomination in 2024, the party will have to do some "soul-searching."

"We've got to start getting back to a party that people will vote for, or we don't get to govern," he told CBS.

Hogan said in a statement he would never run for president to sell books or position himself for a cabinet role.

“To once again be a successful governing party, we must move on from Donald Trump. There are several competent Republican leaders who have the potential to step up and lead," Hogan's statement said. "But the stakes are too high for me to risk being part of another multicar pileup that could potentially help Mr. Trump recapture the nomination.”

Last month, Hogan appeared on CNN with Jake Tapper, where he said the GOP has focused on firing up the base. "We barely took the House back after losing it. If we want to win elections and want to be a party that can govern … you can’t just appeal to the base."

As for DeSantis, Hogan said the Florida governor has "done a good job of getting on Fox News" and he is focused on the base. "But he’s going to have to figure out a way to appeal to a broader audience," Hogan said.

Hogan told CBS News on Nov. 9 that the midterm results pushed him closer to running for president, noting that he didn't predict a red wave, and the Democratic hold on the U.S. Senate shows voters want "normal Republicans" to seek office rather than candidates endorsed by Trump.

“I think there is a battle for which direction the Republican Party will go,” Hogan told CBS. “My side of the party had a really good night. Trump's side did not." He added, "That battle is not over, and it's going to go on for a long time."

Not every conservative publication is a Hogan fan.

"All Hogan could do by running is help Trump by peeling off 'anti-Trump' primary voters from candidates who could actually defeat him for the nomination. Hogan was a good Republican governor in Maryland, but he is never going to be the Republican nominee for president," The Washington Examiner said in November 2022. "If he wants to beat Trump, he should put an end to the fantasy that he could actually win the nomination."