Larry Hogan testing the gubernatorial waters
Add Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. to the list of those who feel they can't wait for Bob Ehrlich to decide if he's running for governor again.
Hogan, a Republican whose most recent public position was as appointments secretary in the Ehrlich administration, is launching a "Hogan for Maryland" exploratory committee, and is seeking advice and feedback emailed to him at lhogan@hogancompanies.com
The 2010 election, with Gov. Martin O'Malley presumably seeking a second term, "is much too important for us to just sit back" and let the incumbent go unchallenged, Hogan said in a letter to hundreds of supporters set for distribution on Tuesday -- exactly one year to day of party primaries. "Somebody simply must step up to this challenge."
Hogan was once considered a rising star in Republican circles, with the benefit of a notable family name. His father Lawrence J. Hogan, is a former Maryland congressman who went on to become Prince George's County Executive.
In 1992, the junior Hogan ran an underfunded and uphill battle against incumbent Democrat Steny Hoyer in the 5th District, which Hogan's father once represented. Hoyer won, but with just 53 percent of the vote -- one of his toughest races.
In his letter, Hogan makes it clear that he will only stay in the race if Ehrlich remains on the sidelines.
He said he has been urging Ehrlich to seek a rematch against O'Malley "to return sanity and common sense to Annapolis."
"But the question on many people's minds lately has been: what if he doesn't run? What is the back-up plan?"
Hogan had a more visible role than he might have preferred in the Ehrlich administration. As appointments secretary, he was responsible for filling the hundreds of boards, commissions and executive level positions with people who would be loyal to the first Republican governor in a generation. But the administration's effort to bring in its own people was decried by top Democrats as a partisan witch-hunt that reached too far into professional, protected levels of agencies. A lengthy legislative inquiry on the matter -- perhaps best known for the secretive team of Ehrlich aides in trenchcoats who would tap workers on the shoulder and tell them to pack their belongings -- has yet to be completed.
Other Republicans either in or considering the race include Michael Pappas, a Towson lawyer, and Del. Patrick L. McDonough, of Baltimore County.
