Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan: "We Won't Win Back the White House by Nominating Donald Trump”

Just as Maryland Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) was finishing his half-hour speech at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif., Tuesday night, urging Republicans to follow Reagan’s path, Politico and TV networks were declaring author J.D. Vance the winner in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate in Ohio.

Vance’s come-from-behind victory was largely fueled by a late endorsement from President Trump, trampling on Hogan’s message and perpetuating the narrative that Trump remains the unparalleled driving force within the GOP.

Hogan has a different view of his party. Since the election of 2020, he has attempted to wrap himself in Reagan’s cloak — ever since he revealed that he cast a write-in vote for the late 40th president rather than for Trump or President Biden that November. He has made the case that Republicans should follow Reagan’s example, harkening back to an era when Reagan rang up landslide victories and expanded the GOP base.