Larry Hogan vows to be a bipartisan champion if elected to the U.S. Senate

SALISBURY, Md. – Former Governor and Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, Larry Hogan vows to be a bipartisan champion if he’s successful in his bid to be Maryland’s next U.S. Senator. This comes as he faces an all out attack by Democrats to try an paint him as quite the opposite.

A race that could decide control of the U.S. Senate has Hogan in the midst of an all out attack by Democrats who claim he would vote in favor of radical policies – toe in line with Republicans. That’s a notion that Hogan vehemently refutes, describing those attacks as flagrantly false and citing his record which proves otherwise.

“I think my opponent wants it to be just about red versus blue, and I wanna get back to the red, white and blue,” Hogan emphasized in an exclusive sit-down with WMDT News Anchor Rob Petree.

During his time as Governor, Hogan was widely known and praised for his bipartisan efforts to work alongside Democrats to get things done in Annapolis. He touted that record when we asked just how closely he aligns with the Republican party and its policies.

“I come from the Republican wing of the Republican party, a kind-of traditional Republicans,” Hogan said. “I don’t always identify with the other, the current MAGA-wing of the party. I think I’ve been one of the most folks that are willing to stand up.”

Hogan maintains that he’s always put people before party and that his time as the 62nd governor of Maryland reflects that.

“I’ve always just done what I thought was right for Maryland,” Hogan said emphatically. “And I’ll continue to do that in the Senate. I am a Republican, but I’m also a guy who knows that you can’t get anything done unless you’re willing to listen and work with people.”

That stands in stark contrast to an attack blitz underway by the Democratic Party that seeks to paint Hogan as a Republican pony who would vote in favor of far-right policies. Among the issues he’s being taken to task on is that of abortion following the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling back in 2022 to strike down Roe v. Wade, a landmark decision that protected a woman’s right to have an abortion.

“We funded Planned Parenthood every year, I protected access, nobody lost their access to abortion,” Hogan stressed. “It’s just blatantly wrong, on an issue that’s so important to women, to have them just come out and lie about it over and over and over again.”

Democrats claim Hogan would vote in favor of a nationwide abortion ban if legislation made it the floor to do so, a claim he emphatically denied and vowed to do quite the opposite on.

“I will support a bill to codify Roe to make sure that, in every state, that no one can come between a woman and her doctor,” Hogan said in response.

Abortion isn’t the only issue Hogan’s opponent’s have attacked him on. They also claim he didn’t do enough to protect LGBTQ rights – another accusation that Hogan’s record refutes.

“All kinds of great legislation was passed while I was there,” Hogan said. “I had openly gay members of my staff, and in our administration. I pushed for and signed anti-conversion therapy bill which was one of the most important accomplishments, and look, I believe everyone should be treated fairly and that’s exactly what I did for eight years.”

The proof is in the polling, according to Hogan who, as a Republican, left office with an incredible amount of support from Democrats.

“My opponents make it sound like I was this partisan person that did all these terrible things, and yet I left office with 79-percent of Democrats approving of the job that I did,” Hogan said emphatically. “So, it couldn’t have been that bad.”

As people across the country struggle to afford the things they need to live on, like groceries and gasoline, lawmakers on Capitol Hill are embroiled in partisan politics. This is something Hogan tells us he wants to change by bridging the divide across the aisle with an increased focus on ways to improve the economy and address inflation.

“The most important issue is the economy, which is off track, affordability, the cost of groceries, inflation, cost of housing is sort of out of control,” Hogan stressed. “It’s putting home ownership out of reach for a lot of our young people, so getting inflation under control and fixing our economy and working on the debt.”

Hogan also vowed to fight hard to address a host of others issues if he makes it to Washington. That includes securing the border, addressing crime, and supporting law enforcement. He says he’ll be able to do all that and more by working across the aisle as a key voice to get things done for the people.

“I really believe that I can be that key swing voice that can try to encourage people to come together,” Hogan said. “It’s a very divided country, and it’s very divided, politics in Washington and Congress. I think I can be that key one in the middle to help fix things which is how I worked together with our Democratic legislature to get things done here in Maryland.”

Hogan is running against Democratic candidate and Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks. Our repeated attempts to sit-down with her for an interview have so-far been unsuccessful.

The two will face off in the general election on Tuesday, November 5th – both are hoping to be the one to replace retiring U.S. Senator Ben Cardin.