Maryland Senate candidate Larry Hogan (R) released a 30 second ad space Tuesday, in which he said Republicans could not trust his vote if he were elected to the Senate.
In the ad — Hogan’s second of the general election cycle so far — the moderate Republican reaffirmed his commitment to being an independent voter.
“I want to say this upfront: In the Senate, Republicans cannot count on my vote,” Hogan, the former governor of the Old Line State, said in the announcement.
“If they want my vote, they’re going to have to do what’s right for Maryland, not a political party,” he continued. “That’s exactly what I did as your governor, and that’s exactly the kind of senator I will be.”
The ad, titled “Right for Maryland,” will run in the Baltimore and Washington, D.C. regions across broadcast, cable and digital platforms. It’s part of the $1 million-plus ad buy launched last week with the first ad, which saw Hogan pledge to support legislation that would codify Roe v. Wade. Wade in federal law.
The announcement also comes as Hogan seeks to dispel concerns that, if elected to represent the blue state in the U.S. Senate, he would align with the mainstream Republican platform and advance the party’s national agenda.
Hogan — who was popular as governor of Maryland — rose to national prominence as a moderate Republican who became a rare and frequent critic of former President Trump.
He won the GOP primary after making a surprise entry into the Senate race earlier this year, fueling Republican hopes of a victory in the blue-leaning state. The Cook Political Report changed the race to “likely Democrat” from “solid Democrat” when Hogan announced his candidacy.
Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks (D) defeated incumbent Rep. David Trone (D-Md.) for the Democratic Party nomination, and she will face Hogan in November as they vie to succeed Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin (Md). .).
Hogan was briefly seen as a possible candidate in a third-party presidential race with No Labels, the bipartisan political group that intended to form a unity bid for 2024 — of which he was a former chairman.
The Maryland Republican said earlier this year that he would not vote for Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, in November but would seek a third-party alternative.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
