Hogan talked with the GOP’s Senate campaign arm; remains uninterested

Two years ago, top Republicans in Washington aggressively tried — and failed — to recruit then-Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan to run for the Senate. Now they’re testing the waters once more.

Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), chair of the Senate GOP’s campaign arm, called Hogan earlier this month, according to a GOP operative familiar with the conversation.

The two connected in what the operative described as a talk “opening a channel.” But during his chat with Daines, Hogan made it clear that his eye is not currently on the Senate.

“The governor reiterated that he has never been interested in the Senate,” the source told POLITICO.

A prominent moderate and anti-Trump Republican, Hogan had recently announced that he is not running for president on the GOP ticket after openly flirting with a bid. That raised questions about what type of political future he imagined for himself: whether it be a run for the Senate or an independent campaign for the White House, which he has not ruled out.

Daines and Hogan spoke a few days after Hogan announced he’d forgo a Republican presidential run. Hogan, a popular politician in Maryland, was term-limited and ended his governorship at the beginning of this year.

In the wake of the GOP’s midterm losses in 2022, Daines has decided to wade into primaries in hopes of nominating quality Senate candidates. He has sought to lure former hedge fund CEO Dave McCormick into the race for Senate in Pennsylvania. Senate Republicans hope Gov. Jim Justice jumps into the contest in West Virginia as well.

Though Hogan would be a prized recruit, Maryland is by no means a must-win state for Republicans as they seek to flip the Senate chamber. There are several more promising targets, with Democratic incumbents running in Republican-leaning states.

One reason that political insiders are watching Maryland’s Senate race is that many expect Sen. Ben Cardin, who is 79, to retire. Cardin said in January that he is undecided on a re-election bid. As of the end of last year, he only had $1 million on hand, according to campaign finance filings.

GOP officials went to great lengths to try to persuade Hogan to run for the Senate in 2022 against the state’s other Senator: Democrat Chris Van Hollen. They tapped Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s wife, Elaine Chao, and moderate Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) to reel him in.

But Hogan ultimately decided against it, saying at the time that “I just didn’t see myself being a U.S. senator.”

Hogan declined through an aide to provide a comment for this story. The National Republican Senatorial Committee did not immediately respond to a request for comment.