Republican Won’t Vote for Donald Trump Despite Having His Endorsement

Former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan said he won’t vote for Kamala Harris or Donald Trump in the 2024 election, despite having the former president’s endorsement in his Senate race.
Hogan, who has long criticized Trump, is currently trying to become the first Republican in more than 30 years to represent deep-blue Maryland in the Senate.
He has spoken out against Trump and his “divisive rhetoric” multiple times but, in a surprise move, Trump offered his endorsement in June, when he told Fox News: “I’d like to see him win. I think he has a good chance to win.” This was a far cry from how Trump had spoken about Hogan before, calling him a “RINO” (Republican in Name Only) for his Covid policies.
Despite the endorsement, Hogan said on Sunday: “Neither one of the two candidates has earned my vote, and the voters in the country are going to be able to make that decision.”
In an interview with CBS News’ Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan, he said: “I didn’t vote for him in 2016 or 2020 and I’ve made that pretty clear. I’m willing to put country over party, and I’m hoping that the voters will be willing to do the same thing.
“I have a completely separate identity after, you know, being governor for two terms in the bluest state, or one of the blue states in America. I stand up to him, probably more than just about anyone, and I’ll continue to.”
Hogan, who served as Maryland governor from 2015 to 2023, said he believes “both parties are way off track from what their kind of base core values used to be,” classing the Democrats as too far left and the Republicans as “more of a Trump party.”
Newsweek contacted the campaign teams of Trump and Harris via email outside of normal working hours for comment.
Hogan made similar arguments when he essentially rejected Trump’s Senate race endorsement a few months ago, saying: “I didn’t seek it, I didn’t want to have it and I have no interest in it. It’s not something we’re going to be promoting, that’s for sure.”
The shock backing from Trump came after his co-campaign manager, Chris LaCivita, responded to Hogan’s call for Americans to respect the verdict of the New York hush money trial with a post on X that said: “You just ended your campaign.”
Although it has not been explicitly said, Trump is likely throwing his support behind Hogan because flipping Maryland’s Senate seat to Republican would help the party regain control of the Senate.
But Hogan doesn’t believe Trump’s support would help him win the race.
“In a state that Donald Trump lost by 33 points, it doesn’t really carry a lot of voters over to our cause,” Hogan said when he turned down Trump’s endorsement.
Indeed, polling tracker 538 has Maryland support for Trump at 32.5 percent, compared to Harris’ 62.2 percent.
Harris’ +29.7 percentage point margin is significantly higher than national polls, which show a much tighter race—45.7 percent for Trump and 48.5 percent for Harris.
Newsweek also contacted Hogan for further comment.