Ex-Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan says he will not run for an open Senate seat in 2024

Former Republican Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan announced Tuesday that he is not interested in running for the Senate in 2024, although he is viewed by many as the leading contender for the seat vacated by Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin.

Hogan, one of only two Republicans elected to two-term terms as governor in Maryland, said he’s had inquiries about a possible run for the Senate, including from his wife, since Cardin’s resignation announcement Monday.

“I get a lot of calls about this,” Hogan told NewsNation on Tuesday. “I get calls from senators and donors and get a lot of inquiries from the media, but what surprised me the most was when my wife said, ‘Why don’t you run for Senate?’ ”

“I told her she was crazy,” he said. “I mean, I had no interest in becoming a senator.”

The well-loved former Maryland governor and cancer survivor explained that the contentious nature of life in the Senate doesn’t appeal to him.

“The Senate is a whole different thing,” Hogan said. “You’re one of 100 people who argue all day. Not much gets done in the Senate, and most former governors I know who go into the Senate aren’t enthusiastic about the work.”

“But I don’t follow that,” he added.

Last year, the centrist former governor turned down offers from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and other Republicans to run against Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) in the 2022 midterm election, saying at the time he was “humbled” but did not aspire to become a United States Senator.

Hogan, a vocal critic of former President Donald Trump, bowed in deference to the 2024 Republican presidential nomination in March after weighing a run at the White House.

No Republican has represented Maryland in the Senate since 1986.