Statewide Iowa — Maryland Governor Larry Hogan says he’s not sure he plans to run for President, but he has just joined the ranks of hundreds of White House hopefuls who have visited the Iowa State Fair.
Hogan, a Republican, is a two term governor who cannot seek reelection due to term limits in Maryland. Hogan has said that he wants to continue to be a voice in the GOP when his term ends in January.
The Republican candidate Hogan backed to succeed him as governor lost in July to a candidate endorsed by former President Trump. Hogan won’t be voting for Trump’s preferred candidate.
If Republican voters were to pick their 2024 Republican presidential nominee today, Hogan says it would likely be Trump. Hogan says politics can change dramatically in a year and he intends to be among a group of Republicans trying to figure out if there’s room for other candidates.
On Thursday, August 11th, Hogan met with a small group of Iowa law enforcement officials and Republican Congressman Randy Feenstra to discuss efforts to combat crime. As Governor, Hogan has used state tax dollars to pay for more federal prosecutors who handle gun related cases and he approved a 50 percent increase in state spending on local policing. Hogan calls it “Refunding” the police, as a counter to progressives’ calls for defunding. Hogan says he didn’t like hearing some fellow Republicans call for “defunding” the FBI, following the search at Trump’s Florida home
Hogan says there are still a lot of questions that need to be answered to end speculation about the FBI’s actions, but Hogan says the U.S. Attorney General took a step in the right direction by filing a motion to make public both the warrant and list of items removed from Trump’s Florida home.
