Could the perennially deep blue state offer Republicans a path to regaining the Senate majority in November’s elections?
A new poll suggests the answer may be yes.
Former Republican Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland has a double-digit lead over both potential Democratic rivals in his home state’s Senate race, according to a Washington Post/University of Maryland poll released Wednesday. is maintained.
Hogan, who shocked the election world last month with his sudden announcement that he would begin his Senate campaign, would lead Democratic Rep. David Trone with a 49 percent lead if the general election were held today, according to the poll. This is higher at 37%.
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Then-Gov. Republican Larry Hogan speaks with FOX News Digital on July 11, 2022 in Manchester, New Hampshire. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)
and poll Hogan showed a 50% to 36% lead over Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks, the other major Democrat running for the Senate nomination. ing.
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But the poll, conducted March 5-12, also shows that Maryland voters say they want Democrats to retain the Senate majority by a 20-point margin.
Congressman David J. Tron (D-Md.) speaks at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library in Washington, D.C. (Brian Stokes/Getty Images)
Polls show Trone leading Alsobrooks 34% to 27% in the May 14 party primary to replace retiring Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin, with 10% of Democratic voters in the race to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin. Nearly four of them are undecided.
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Mr. Trone, co-founder and co-owner with his brother of the successful alcohol retailer Total Wine & More, has so far led Mr. Allbrooks in the Democratic Senate primary by a wide margin.
On March 15, 2023, at the Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center in College Park, Maryland, Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks delivered the State of the County Budget Address and formally announced the 2024 budget proposal. (Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Hogan, a vocal Republican critic of former President Donald Trump, won and was reelected as governor in 2014 and 2018 in a state where Democrats outnumbered Republicans by a roughly 2-to-1 margin. I accomplished it.
Hogan, who was a successful businessman before entering politics, is seriously considering running for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, and is planning to move into New Hampshire, which will host the first primary on the Republican nominating calendar, in 2022. I visited many times.
But last March, Hogan announced he would not seek his party’s presidential nomination.
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In his final year as governor, Republican leaders in the nation’s capital and Maryland pushed Hogan to run for the Senate against Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen in the 2022 midterm elections.
However, Hogan refused at a press conference in February of the same year, saying, “As I have said many times, I do not desire to serve in the United States Senate.”
Then-Maryland Governor Larry Hogan practices his farewell speech at the Maryland State Capitol in Annapolis on January 10, 2023. (Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
But two years later, Hogan is now running for the state’s open seat, the first time a Republican has held a Senate seat in nearly 40 years.
Mr. Hogan, who took the helm of Maryland on a bipartisan basis, leaves office with high levels of support and goodwill. And a new poll shows he remains popular, with a 64% to 23% favorable/unfavorable rating.
The survey also shows that Tron and Allsbrooks are not well known among many Maryland voters.
Democrats currently hold a 51-49 majority in the U.S. Senate, but Republicans see this year’s Senate situation in their favor, with Democrats saying they will defend 23 of the 34 seats at stake.
Three of those seats are in red states that Trump won in 2020: Ohio, Montana and West Virginia, where Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin is not running for re-election.
Get the latest on the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more with Fox News Digital’s Election Hub.
