Gov. Larry Hogan said he’s taking his time before launching into his re-election campaign.
After he toured a nonprofit in Silver Spring on Monday, Hogan noted the November 2018 election is more than a year-and-a-half away and he has “plenty of time to look at that.”
“The folks on the other side of the aisle have about a year to figure out who’s going to run against me,” Hogan said, referencing the June 2018 Democratic primary. “They have seven or eight people talking about it. I’m going to continue to stay focused on Maryland and maybe in a year or so we’ll think about re-election.”
Hogan was also lighthearted about his popularity, which remains high. A March Washington Post-University of Maryland poll found the governor had a 65 percent job-approval rating.
“The latest polling that we have shows about 6 percent of the people in Maryland strongly disapprove of the job that I’m doing—[and] it seems like every one of them want to run for governor,” Hogan joked. “So I wish them all well. I don’t know who’s going to be the lucky one to come out in June, but we’ll be ready for them.”
Gov. Larry Hogan talks about re-election bid and about Rep. John Delaney in Silver Spring today. pic.twitter.com/mzO1YD0S0q
— Andrew Metcalf (@AJwatchMD) July 10, 2017
Already former NAACP President Ben Jealous, Prince George’s County Executive Rushern Baker, state Sen. Richard Madaleno (D-Kensington), Baltimore attorney James Shea and entrepreneur Alec Ross have announced plans to run in the Democratic primary for governor. Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz is expected to also enter the race, while U.S. Rep. John Delaney (D-Potomac) has said he’ll announce whether he’ll run for governor at the end of the month.
Last week, Delaney criticized the governor, saying policies such as starting school after Labor Day and reducing tolls on bridges and highways “feel good and sound good,” but are “fundamentally bad public policy.”
When asked if he would like to respond to Delaney on Monday, Hogan said, “I don’t pay a whole lot of attention to what John Delaney says. I can tell you we’re making a whole lot of progress and he’s not.”
