Larry Hogan says he will not seek Republican nomination for president in 2024

Washington — Former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan will not seek the Republican nomination for president, he told CBS News.

“It was a tough decision, but I’ve decided that I will not be a candidate for the Republican nomination for president,” Hogan said in an interview with CBS News chief election and campaign correspondent Robert Costa.

The former Maryland governor, who left the post in January after serving two terms, said he gave “serious consideration” to mounting a bid for the White House in 2024, and said opting to stay out of the race was the “toughest decision I ever made.”

“I care very deeply about the country and my party. I think I’ve been a voice of reason to try to get us back to a place where we have a more hopeful, positive vision for America,” he said.”I think we’ve made a difference and I don’t plan on walking away. I’m going to continue to stay involved in that fight for the soul of the Republican Party, but I’m just not going to do it as a candidate for president.”

Speculation about Hogan’s political future and whether it included a campaign for the presidency mounted after he made visits last year to New Hampshire and Iowa, the first two states on the primary calendar. 

A critic of former President Donald Trump, Hogan told CBS News he believes his decision to step aside may make it more difficult for the former president to win the GOP presidential nomination.

“I didn’t want to have a pile up of a bunch of people fighting,” he said. “Right now, you have, you know, Trump and DeSantis at the top of the field, they’re soaking up all the oxygen, getting all the attention. And then a whole lot of the rest of us in single digits, and the more of them you have, the less chance you have for somebody rising up.”

The field of candidates seeking the Republican nomination for 2024 so far includes Trump, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and former biotech executive Vivek Ramaswamy, but it is expected to grow in the coming months. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is widely expected to mount a White House bid and is a frontrunner alongside Trump, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu has indicated he, too, is considering a run, and former Vice President Mike Pence is also expected to enter the race.

With DeSantis the biggest threat to Trump, Hogan noted that Republicans appear to be moving away from the former president.

“He’s leading in the polls, and there’s no question he’s a formidable challenge,” he said of Trump. “But I think, you know, a year is an eternity in politics and the first primaries are about a year away. So I think what it looks like today could be completely different than what it looks like a year from now.”

He warned though that if Trump wins the Republican nomination in 2024, the party will have to do some “soul-searching.” 

“We’ve got to start getting back to a party that people will vote for, or we don’t get to govern,” he said.