1. Larry Hogan unsuccessfully campaigned for his father's old district, Maryland's 5th congressional district in 1981 and 1992, the latter of which was incumbent Steny Hoyer's closest race.
158 Facts About Larry Hogan
1. 2.
Larry Hogan then served in the cabinet of governor Bob Ehrlich from 2003 to 2007 as Maryland Secretary of Appointments.
3.
In 2011, Larry Hogan founded the Change Maryland organization, which he used to promote his 2014 gubernatorial campaign.
4.
Larry Hogan campaigned as a moderate Republican and defeated Democrat Anthony Brown in the general election in what was considered an upset.
5.
Larry Hogan was reelected in 2018, defeating Democrat Ben Jealous, to become Maryland's first two-term Republican governor since Theodore McKeldin won re-election in 1954.
6.
Larry Hogan was term limited from running for a third term in 2022 and was succeeded as governor by Democrat Wes Moore, having refused to endorse Moore's Republican opponent, Dan Cox, in that year's gubernatorial election.
7.
Larry Hogan left office as one of the most popular governors in the country.
8.
On February 9,2024, Larry Hogan filed and launched a campaign for the 2024 United States Senate election in Maryland, seeking to succeed retiring incumbent Democratic US Senator Ben Cardin.
9.
Larry Hogan won the Republican primary election on May 14,2024, and was defeated by Prince George's County Executive Angela Alsobrooks in the general election on November 5,2024.
10.
Larry Hogan was born in 1956 in Washington, DC, and grew up in Landover, Maryland, attending Saint Ambrose Catholic School and DeMatha Catholic High School.
11.
Larry Hogan moved to Florida with his mother after his parents divorced in 1972 and graduated from Father Lopez Catholic High School in 1974.
12.
Larry Hogan is the son of Nora and Lawrence Larry Hogan Sr.
13.
Larry Hogan attended Florida State University from 1974 to 1978 and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in government and political science.
14.
Larry Hogan helped his father run a successful campaign in 1978 for Prince George's County executive and later worked for him as a low-paid "intergovernmental liaison".
15.
In 1981, at age 24, Larry Hogan first ran for office in the special election to fill the vacancy in Maryland's 5th congressional district left by Gladys Noon Spellman.
16.
In 1985, Larry Hogan founded Larry Hogan Companies, which is engaged in brokerage, consulting, investment and development of land, commercial and residential properties.
17.
Larry Hogan spent the next 18 years in the private sector.
18.
In 1992, Larry Hogan was the Republican nominee for Maryland's 5th congressional district, running against Democratic incumbent Steny Hoyer.
19.
Larry Hogan took a four-year leave of absence from his business to serve as Maryland's secretary of appointments in Bob Ehrlich's administration from 2003 to 2007.
20.
In 2011, Larry Hogan founded Change Maryland, a nonprofit anti-tax advocacy organization that was used to criticize Governor Martin O'Malley's administration.
21.
The organization promoted Larry Hogan's gubernatorial run, and his campaign eventually purchased its assets.
22.
The Maryland Democratic Party alleged that Larry Hogan had improperly received campaign benefits from the nonprofit; the State Board of Elections dismissed two of the complaints but found Larry Hogan's campaign had not properly disclosed the value of a poll the nonprofit did before purchasing its assets.
23.
Larry Hogan left office with few legislative accomplishments, but defended his approach to legislating by saying that he "never intended to enact a bunch of policies".
24.
Larry Hogan frequently vetoed bills passed by the Maryland General Assembly, which was controlled by a Democratic supermajority during his entire tenure as governor, meaning that legislative leaders had to ensure bills passed by veto-proof majorities and had to schedule enough time for the legislature to override his vetoes on priority bills.
25.
Larry Hogan served as vice chair of the National Governors Association from 2018 to 2019 and as chair from 2019 to 2020.
26.
In 2019, Larry Hogan raised the possibility of running for president in 2020, but he later decided not to run.
27.
Larry Hogan's real estate business repeatedly came under scrutiny during his tenure as governor, as Larry Hogan was a member of the Maryland Board of Public Works and had the ability to set rules for state housing projects and to award grants and tax credits to developers.
28.
Shortly after becoming governor, Larry Hogan entered into a trust agreement that was managed by his younger brother, Timothy, and allowed him to remain informed of his real estate firm's investments, including its finances and the locations of its real estate projects.
29.
In January 2020, Washington Monthly reported that Larry Hogan continued to meet regularly with the firm's trustees and held properties near state transportation projects that he earmarked funding for in the state's annual budgets, and did not disclose any of his nearby property interests to the General Assembly before legislators voted to approve such funding, allowing Larry Hogan to personally profit from state investments.
30.
In October 2024, an investigation from Time found that Larry Hogan awarded nearly 40 percent of the state's competitive affordable housing awards to developers listed as clients to Larry Hogan's firm.
31.
Larry Hogan was the first governor to make millions of dollars while in office and Time found no record of him ever recusing himself while in office.
32.
Time followed up by reporting that Larry Hogan awarded millions in competitive affordable housing contracts to land owned by his stepmother, Ilona Larry Hogan, who later sold the property for $3.75 million in November 2022.
33.
In March 2017, it was discovered that Larry Hogan staffers altered headlines of The Baltimore Sun and DelmarvaNow articles posted on his Facebook page to falsely imply General Assembly support for Larry Hogan's so-called "Road Kill Bill".
34.
Larry Hogan ran on a platform of fiscal issues, largely avoiding questions about his positions on social issues like gun control and abortion by saying that he would respect Maryland's current laws and refusing to elaborate on his positions until he took office.
35.
Larry Hogan sought to make the election into a referendum on Martin O'Malley's tenure, comparing himself to Ehrlich in the 2002 Maryland gubernatorial election.
36.
Larry Hogan won the Republican primary election with 43 percent of the vote on June 24,2014.
37.
Larry Hogan is the first governor to be elected from Anne Arundel County in over 100 years.
38.
Larry Hogan enjoyed significant polling and fundraising leads over Jealous throughout the campaign.
39.
Larry Hogan blamed "collusion" between the Democratic Governors Association and former president Donald Trump for Cox's primary win.
40.
Larry Hogan declined to say who he voted for in the general election.
41.
Larry Hogan delivered his farewell address as governor on January 10,2023.
42.
Larry Hogan began announcing nominations for his 26-member cabinet on December 17,2014.
43.
In December 2016, Larry Hogan proposed doubling funding for the state program.
44.
In early 2017, Larry Hogan proposed a budget that cut funding for community revitalization programs, extended library hours, and public schools in Baltimore City.
45.
Larry Hogan has criticized the school system for the mismanagement of funds, and has deemed the system's finances an "absolute disaster".
46.
In May 2018, Larry Hogan signed a bill appropriating $15 million in need-based scholarships for low- and middle-income students, allowing them to attend community college tuition-free, and appropriating an additional $2 million over a five-year period for older "near-completer" college students who are close to earning degrees at community colleges or four-year colleges.
47.
In May 2020, Larry Hogan vetoed the Blueprint for Maryland's Future, citing the massive hit on Maryland's economy from the COVID-19 pandemic.
48.
Larry Hogan said that he would "stand up" for farmers and fishers, who he said were unfairly burdened with regulations passed in Maryland to clean up the Chesapeake Bay.
49.
In February 2015, Larry Hogan proposed a $250 million dredging operation at the Conowingo Dam, which he called an "environmental hazard" due to the build-up of over 170 million tons of sediment caused by the dam, and suggested that Exelon should be responsible for covering the costs of the operation.
50.
In October 2019, the Larry Hogan administration reached an agreement with Exelon that would have the energy company invest $200 million in environmental projects around the Susquehanna River and Conowingo Dam, but did not require the company to remove any of the sediment built up by the dam.
51.
In February 2015, Larry Hogan announced proposed regulatory changes on phosphorus nutrient pollution in the Chesapeake Bay and the Eastern Shore of Maryland.
52.
In March 2015, Larry Hogan reached a compromise with Democrats in the General Assembly under which a hard date of 2022 was established, subject to a delay to 2024 if no alternative uses for the manure can be found.
53.
In June 2017, Larry Hogan maintained support for the climate agreement and opposed the United States withdrawal from the Paris Agreement.
54.
In June 2015, Larry Hogan canceled the federally funded Baltimore Red Line project, instead choosing to reallocate money to road construction across Maryland, fulfilling a 2014 campaign promise.
55.
In May 2022, Larry Hogan vetoed bills that would establish a Baltimore-based regional transit board and to fund a new study of the Red Line project.
56.
Larry Hogan conditionally approved funding for the Purple Line in Maryland's Washington, DC suburbs, subject to increased contributions from Montgomery County and Prince George's County.
57.
Larry Hogan said that the bill would force him to cancel 66 transportation projects and called it the "Road Kill Bill".
58.
Larry Hogan did not explain why he considered the measure politically motivated.
59.
Larry Hogan deemed repealing the legislation to be his top priority, but gridlock and tension between him and the legislature prevented an alternative solution from being reached.
60.
The plan's cost has risen from $9 billion to $11 billion since it was first made public, an amount that the Larry Hogan administration says will be paid for entirely by private contractors.
61.
On May 8,2019, the Prince George's County Council voted unanimously for a proposal requiring Larry Hogan to undertake further environmental reviews before proceeding with the plan.
62.
Some consider these decisions contradictory to Larry Hogan's stated support for the Paris Climate accord.
63.
Larry Hogan has been accused of seeking to advance his business interests through his position.
64.
Larry Hogan declared a state of emergency on March 5,2020, after three Montgomery County residents tested positive for COVID-19.
65.
Larry Hogan filed a supplemental budget requesting $10 million to fund an emergency response to the virus.
66.
On March 12,2020, Larry Hogan ordered the closure of all public schools in the state starting March 16 and ending March 27 to allow for the cleaning and disinfecting of school buildings to prevent the virus's spread.
67.
Larry Hogan signed an executive order activating the Maryland Army National Guard and moving the Maryland Emergency Management Agency's activation level to its highest level of readiness, and another prohibiting all social, community, religious, recreational and sports gatherings of more than 250 people in close proximity.
68.
Larry Hogan mandated remote work by all nonessential state employees, directed hospitals to adopt new visitor policies, suspended visits at state prisons, limited public access to state buildings, and closed all senior living facilities until the state was no longer under a state of emergency.
69.
Larry Hogan signed another executive order a few days later ordering the closure of all Maryland casinos, racetracks, and simulcast betting facilities until the state of emergency expired.
70.
Larry Hogan used coronavirus "strike teams", made up of the National Guard, state and local health departments and hospital systems, to provide emergency care, supplies and equipment to nursing homes to combat coronavirus case outbreaks.
71.
Larry Hogan gave 16 community colleges a $10 million grant in September 2020 to assist people impacted by the pandemic, and later unveiled a $500 million economic relief package to help Maryland business owners recover.
72.
Larry Hogan renewed the state's coronavirus state of emergency declaration on October 31 and its state travel advisories on November 5,2020, after a sudden increase in COVID-19 cases across the state.
73.
Larry Hogan reintroduced capacity restrictions in public spaces and buildings in order to reduce the virus's spread.
74.
Larry Hogan later implemented new gathering and travel restrictions as cases continued to soar.
75.
On December 8,2020, Larry Hogan announced that Maryland would receive its first batch of COVID-19 vaccines by December 14 and laid out a four-phase plan for who would receive the first doses.
76.
Larry Hogan's administration opened mass vaccination sites across the state, starting with Six Flags America and the Baltimore Convention Center in February 2021.
77.
Larry Hogan opened 12 mass vaccination sites by the end of April 2021 and worked with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to deploy the first federal mobile COVID-19 vaccination sites on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.
78.
In February 2021, Larry Hogan signed into law a bill providing tax relief for families and businesses struggling with the pandemic and distributing direct payments of $500 to families and $300 to low-income individuals.
79.
Larry Hogan signed an executive order lifting the state's restrictions on restaurants, retail businesses, religious facilities, casinos, and social gatherings on March 12,2021, but kept social distancing and mask mandate requirements in place.
80.
Larry Hogan signed an executive order lifting the outdoor mask mandate and dining restrictions on April 28,2021, and lifted all remaining COVID-19 related restrictions on May 15.
81.
Larry Hogan later signed a proclamation keeping the conditions of the emergency declaration in place through August 15,2021.
82.
On June 1,2021, Larry Hogan announced that on July 3 he would join two dozen other Republican governors in ending the $300 supplemental weekly unemployment insurance provided by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.
83.
In September 2021, Larry Hogan authorized COVID-19 booster shots for nursing home residents and immunocompromised residents.
84.
Larry Hogan called McGrath into his office the next day to discuss the payout, but did not take any action until The Sun article was released.
85.
Larry Hogan maintained that he did not know about the severance payment, and ordered an audit of the Maryland Environmental Service following his resignation.
86.
McGrath was facing wire fraud and embezzlement charges and became a fugitive when he failed to show up to federal court in Baltimore in a trial wherein Larry Hogan was to be called as a witness.
87.
In October 2018, a law tightening gun control regulations that Larry Hogan signed went into effect.
88.
Larry Hogan was endorsed by the NRA Political Victory Fund in 2014, but in July 2018, he said he would decline an endorsement and funds from the NRA if they were offered.
89.
On May 24,2019, Larry Hogan vetoed a bill to replace the state Handgun Permit Review Board with a panel of judges.
90.
Larry Hogan vetoed legislation that would require gun shops to have increased safety measures, including 24-hour burglary alarm systems and anti-vehicle barriers.
91.
In July 2022, Larry Hogan directed the Maryland State Police to end the "good and substantial" reasoning standard when issuing carry permits.
92.
In May 2021, Larry Hogan vetoed a bill passed by the General Assembly that would require counties that have contracts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to end their contracts by October 1,2022.
93.
In October 2017, Larry Hogan signed an executive order requiring firms that have state contracts to promise they will not boycott Israel.
94.
In July 2015, Larry Hogan announced the closure of the decrepit Baltimore City Detention Center, which had a long record of poor conditions and dysfunction.
95.
In 2016, Larry Hogan reopened the Maryland State Police Barrack in Annapolis, which had closed in 2008 as a cost-saving measure.
96.
In September 2019, Larry Hogan directed Attorney General Brian Frosh to prosecute more violent crime cases in Baltimore City.
97.
Larry Hogan said that the city's justice system was too lenient, citing an example of someone who had a pending murder charge but was set free.
98.
Larry Hogan authorized state police helicopters to fly over Baltimore City and ordered an increase in the enforcement of outstanding warrants.
99.
Larry Hogan vetoed legislation passed by the Maryland General Assembly in 2015 to restore the voting rights of persons convicted of felonies following their completion of prison sentences.
100.
In May 2021, Larry Hogan granted posthumous pardons to 34 victims of racial lynchings in Maryland between the years 1854 and 1933.
101.
In late May 2021, Larry Hogan vetoed a bill that would remove the governor from parole decisions made by the Maryland Parole Commission.
102.
In October 2021, Larry Hogan proposed a $150 million "Re-Fund the Police" initiative aimed at increasing support for the state's law enforcement agencies and victims of violent crime.
103.
In November 2021, citing a wave of violent crime in Baltimore, Larry Hogan announced that his administration would fast-track and expand the $10 million Neighborhood Safety Grants program to include places of worship and vulnerable communities, and introduced two pieces of legislation aimed at decreasing crime.
104.
Larry Hogan announced that the state would conduct an audit of the Baltimore City State's Attorney's Office, demanding Mosby produce detailed statistics on how often her office dismisses cases or strikes deals with defendants.
105.
Senate president Bill Ferguson said that the legislature would not take up Larry Hogan's proposed bills during its 2021 special session.
106.
In May 2017, Larry Hogan vetoed a bill that would have enacted nonpartisan redistricting in Maryland if New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and North Carolina all passed the same deal.
107.
In January 2018, Hogan signed an amicus brief filed by former California Governor Gray Davis in the Supreme Court case Benisek v Lamone, arguing that Maryland's partisan gerrymandering system violates voters' constitutional rights.
108.
In January 2021, Larry Hogan signed an executive order establishing the Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission, which consisted of three Republicans, three Democrats, and three independent voters, in an effort to resolve a gerrymandering issue in the state.
109.
Larry Hogan accepted the commission's final map the following day, sending it to the Maryland General Assembly for consideration during a special session on December 6,2021.
110.
Larry Hogan threatened a legal battle against any maps the General Assembly passed over his veto that he considered unfair.
111.
In December 2016, Larry Hogan proposed state legislation to require companies with 50 or more employees to provide five days per year of paid sick leave.
112.
Larry Hogan's bill was less expansive than legislation passed by the Maryland House of Delegates; it would have preempted local legislation that was more generous to employees, such as mandated paid sick leave required by Montgomery County, Maryland.
113.
Larry Hogan vetoed the more generous bill, but his veto was overridden.
114.
In 2016, Larry Hogan signed a law making birth control cheaper.
115.
In 2017, the legislature passed a bill to reimburse Planned Parenthood in the event that the federal government withdrew funding, and Larry Hogan allowed the bill to become a law without his signature.
116.
Larry Hogan characterized as unnecessary a 2018 initiative Democratic state lawmakers put forward to protect abortion in the Maryland constitution but declined to oppose it, adding that he supported allowing Marylanders to vote on it, which would automatically happen if the General Assembly approved it.
117.
In 2014, Larry Hogan opposed a transgender rights law signed by Governor Martin O'Malley.
118.
In May 2018, Larry Hogan signed legislation into law making Maryland the 11th state to ban conversion therapy for minors.
119.
In June 2021, Larry Hogan refused to veto or sign a bill banning the use of the gay panic defense and another bill creating the Commission on LGBTQ Affairs in the Governor's Office of Community Initiatives.
120.
In 2016, Larry Hogan vetoed legislation to decriminalize possession of marijuana paraphernalia in Maryland, making it a civil infraction rather than a crime.
121.
On July 15,2015, Larry Hogan endorsed New Jersey Governor Chris Christie in his campaign for the Republican nomination for president.
122.
In June 2016, Larry Hogan said he had no plans to support Donald Trump, the Republican Party's presumptive nominee.
123.
In March 2019, Larry Hogan said he was listening to many who were encouraging him to challenge Trump and would not rule it out.
124.
In June 2019, Larry Hogan announced that he would not challenge Trump in the 2020 Republican primaries in order to focus on governing Maryland and chairing the National Governors Association.
125.
Shortly afterward, Larry Hogan said he had no interest in running for the US Senate in 2022, but left open the possibility of running for president in 2024.
126.
Larry Hogan launched An America United, a national advocacy group that is intended to raise Hogan's profile and give him a voice on the national level.
127.
In October 2019, Larry Hogan announced his support for the US House of Representatives' impeachment inquiry against Trump.
128.
In February 2020, after Trump was impeached and acquitted by the Senate, Larry Hogan criticized Congress, saying that House Democrats "had already decided before the hearings that the president should be impeached" and that Senate Republicans were going to acquit Trump "no matter what the facts were".
129.
In September 2020, Larry Hogan endorsed US Senator Susan Collins for reelection.
130.
Larry Hogan ultimately stated that he wrote in a vote for late President Ronald Reagan.
131.
In December 2020, Larry Hogan was announced as the national co-chair of No Labels, a centrist political organization.
132.
In January 2021, in response to the storming of the US Capitol by a pro-Trump mob, Larry Hogan sent in the Maryland National Guard to protect the Capitol, after initially being denied permission multiple times.
133.
Larry Hogan later ordered the Maryland National Guard to aid in protecting the inauguration of Biden.
134.
Larry Hogan criticized Trump and other Republicans for targeting the 13 House Republicans who voted for the act.
135.
In November 2021, after the House of Representatives passed the Build Back Better Act, Larry Hogan issued a statement urging the Senate to reject the bill.
136.
Later, Larry Hogan said he had not ruled out running as a third-party candidate should the 2024 election become a rematch of the 2020 election between Trump and Biden.
137.
Such a third-party bid would likely have been as a candidate of No Labels, which Larry Hogan said had "raised about $50 million to get [ballot] access in all 50 states as kind of an insurance policy".
138.
On October 29,2024, Larry Hogan told CNN that he would not vote for anyone in the presidential election, saying that he "never voted for anybody I didn't believe in".
139.
On February 9,2024, Larry Hogan unexpectedly filed to run for US Senate in Maryland, seeking to succeed retiring US Senator Ben Cardin.
140.
Larry Hogan had repeatedly denied being interested in running for senator, but changed his mind after many senate Republicans, pressed by former President Donald Trump, voted against a combined border security and foreign aid bill.
141.
Larry Hogan credited former President George W Bush with finally convincing him to run for senate.
142.
Larry Hogan won the Republican primary election on May 14,2024, and faced Prince George's County Executive Angela Alsobrooks in the general election.
143.
Larry Hogan called a 2024 referendum on enshrining Roe v Wade into the Maryland Constitution "not really necessary".
144.
Larry Hogan initially refused to clarify his stance on abortion, only saying that he would not vote for a national abortion ban if elected to the Senate.
145.
Larry Hogan declined to say if he would support bills to protect access to in vitro fertilization into federal law, but later said that he would support legislation restoring the Roe decision, backing Question 1, and identifying as pro-choice.
146.
Larry Hogan said that he would support federal legislation to ban assault weapons and impose universal background checks on gun purchases, and supported Israel in the Gaza war and criticized calls for a ceasefire in the conflict, saying that the war should not end until Hamas surrenders and releases all hostages.
147.
In May 2024, Larry Hogan posted on X to say that Americans should "respect the verdict and the legal process", in reference to any decision made in the Trump hush money trial.
148.
Larry Hogan was not aware of Trump's impending endorsement, and in response his campaign released a statement stating Larry Hogan was still not supporting Trump's presidential campaign.
149.
Larry Hogan was defeated by Alsobrooks in the general election on November 5,2024.
150.
Larry Hogan's performance was the best for a Republican since 2006, in which Republican lieutenant governor Michael Steele was defeated by Cardin.
151.
Larry Hogan is the stepfather of Yumi's three adult daughters from her first marriage: Kim Velez, Jaymi Sterling, and Julie Kim.
152.
In September 2014, Larry Hogan said that he had lost at least 25 pounds while campaigning for governor.
153.
Larry Hogan regained 40 pounds from eating unhealthily and from steroids he took while being treated for non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2015, but had lost half of the regained weight by 2017.
154.
In June 2015, Larry Hogan announced that he had been diagnosed with stage-three non-Hodgkin lymphoma and was undergoing treatment.
155.
Larry Hogan completed 18 weeks of chemotherapy and announced in November 2015 that the cancer was in remission.
156.
Larry Hogan underwent his last chemotherapy treatment in October 2016 and was deemed cancer-free.
157.
In January 2021, Larry Hogan underwent surgery to remove early stage squamous cell skin cancer from his face and shoulder, a repeat of similar surgery he had in 2018.
158.
In 2021, Larry Hogan purchased a home and estate for $1.1 million in Davidsonville, Maryland.