Maryland governor Larry Hogan (R.) said Friday he’s not sure if Florida governor Ron DeSantis wants to take on former president Donald Trump to be the GOP presidential nominee in 2024.
Hogan spoke with reporters about how most of the focus on non-Trump 2024 Republican candidates has centered on DeSantis.
“I think Ron DeSantis had a big win in Florida last week and the state’s becoming very red,” Hogan told reporters at the annual Republican Jewish Coalition meeting. “He’s certainly one of the voices. I’m not sure he’s going to be a candidate.”
He noted DeSantis has not even been sworn in for his second term yet and he is a “young guy.”
“Does he want to take on Trump? I’m not sure,” Hogan said.
“I know that most of the media is focused on that but again, six months is an eternity in politics and I can tell you in almost every race I’ve ever seen the guy that comes out of the box first that everybody’s talking about two years out is almost never the nominee,” he said.
While Trump is the only candidate to formally announce his 2024 ambitions, recent polling has shown DeSantis surging ahead of Trump.
Hogan himself is considered a likely 2024 contender. He is term-limited and is currently finishing out the final weeks of his second and final term as Maryland governor.
Last week Hogan left open the possibility of a 2024 run when he spoke on CNN’s State of the Union.
“I still have to do my day job until January 18,” he said when asked if he plans to run for president in 2024.
“I think there’s probably, you know, I’ve been saying since 2020 that we have to get back to a party that appeals to more people that can win in tough places like I’ve done in Maryland,” he said. “And I think that lane is much wider now than it was a week ago.”
Meanwhile, during his speech at the Republican Jewish Coalition meeting Hogan said it is “time for new leadership,” noting the GOP has had three poor election outings in a row: the 2018 midterms, 2020 presidential election and 2022 midterms.
“If you repeatedly lose to a really bad team, it’s time for new leadership,” he said. “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.”