MD Gov. Hogan Open To 2020 GOP Presidential Bid: Report

ANNAPOLIS, MD — With President Donald Trump's popularity taking a hit from the chaotic partial government shutdown, GOP sources say that Maryland's Larry Hogan — the second-most popular governor in the United States — is newly open to the suggestion that he mount a primary challenge for the Republican Party's presidential nomination in 2020. Maryland voters of both parties continually give Hogan sky-high approval ratings of 70 percent or more, and the moderate Republican easily won re-election in November 2018.

Never a supporter of President Trump's candidacy or policies, Hogan went so far as to write in his late father on the presidential ballot rather than voting for the controversial Trump. After a violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, left one woman dead and at least 19 people injured more than a year ago, Hogan condemned the gathering even as Trump said there were good people on both sides of the clashes.

Last summer Hogan downplayed talk of a presidential run. But a new story in The New York Times says GOP detractors of the president are urging other Republicans to oppose his re-election efforts, and Hogan has indicated he is willing to listen to their pitch. GOP midterm losses in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — state's key to Trump's 2016 victory — and Trump’s erosion with political moderates and women has surfaced talk within his party that the Mueller investigation and failure to win funding for his touted wall on the Mexico border make the president vulnerable. And that it might be time for other candidates to challenge Trump.

Democratic presidential contenders have begun trekking to frigid Iowa, which holds the first-in-the-nation caucuses. Hogan is scheduled to visit the Midwestern state in his role as an officer of the National Governors Association. The Times reports an Iowa-based strategist was asked to hold a dinner with Republicans who see Trump as vulnerable while Hogan is in the state.

Jerry Taylor, president of the Niskanen Center, told the newspaper Hogan had “made it clear that the door is open to a potential candidacy, but no decision has been made.”

At an August 2018 business gathering, Hogan spoke with David Rubenstein, president of the Economic Club of Washington D.C., at the Bethesda Marriott. The governor noted that he is one of the country's most popular governors, and "you never say never."

"I have never really given that much thought," Hogan said of a run for president, according to The Washington Post. "Right now, I'm a lot more focused on just getting reelected because there's a lot more things to get done in the second four years."

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But he didn't completely dismiss a presidential bid in 2020 or 2024. Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake and Ohio Gov. John Kasich, both Republicans, have also refused to rule out a possible 2020 presidential run, Politico says.

A quarterly poll released in August by Morning Consult said 68 percent of voters approve of Hogan, while only 17 percent disapprove and the rest don't know or have no opinion of the governor. Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker is the most popular governor in the United States, according to the poll, with only a 1 percent higher approval rating than Hogan.

Photo of Gov. Larry Hogan courtesy of Maryland governor's office