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Election 2024 Senate Maryland
Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan visits the Bridge Boat Show in Stevensville, Md., Friday, April 12, 2024, as he campaigns for the U.S. Senate. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Anti-Trump Republican Larry Hogan navigates dangerous political terrain in pivotal Senate contest

Larry Hogan has transformed Maryland’s sleepy Senate race into a top-tier contest in the fight for the Senate majority

By STEVE PEOPLES and BRIAN WITTE
Published - Apr 17, 2024, 12:21 AM ET
Last Updated - Apr 17, 2024, 12:21 AM EDT

STEVENSVILLE, Md. (AP) — Andy DePaola welcomed Larry Hogan to his family's restaurant with a big smile and a handshake. The warning came a few minutes later.

DePaola, the 64-year-old namesake of DePaola's Bagel and Brunch here in Maryland’s conservative Eastern Shore, whispered to a reporter that Hogan better avoid disparaging former President Donald Trump.

“I'm a Trumper,” DePaola said as Hogan posed for pictures and made small talk with the excited breakfast crowd on a recent Friday morning. "I think Larry would be better off if he kept how he felt about Trump under his breath.”

The brief exchange during a weeks-long bus tour illustrates a stark political reality for the popular Republican former governor, who has single-handedly transformed Maryland's sleepy Senate race into a top-tier contest in the national fight for the Senate majority. Hogan, who was perhaps the most outspoken anti-Trump Republican governor in the nation, can ill afford to lose any pieces of his delicate and diverse political coalition.

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