A former longtime Democrat in Maryland is trying to revive what loosely resembles the Larry Hogan playbook ahead of Tuesday’s gubernatorial primary.Ed Hale, a Democrat turned Republican who is “not a Donald Trump guy,” is testing whether a statewide GOP candidate running on a centrist platform can rebuild a winning coalition reminiscent of the former popular two-term governor to present a formidable challenge to Gov. Wes Moore (D-MD) in a state Trump lost by nearly 30 points. Hogan, though constitutionally eligible, ruled out seeking a third nonconsecutive term for governor earlier this year.Democrats, however, appear set on preventing Hale from even getting the opportunity to rebuild the Hogan brand.
Hale charges Moore and other Democrats with recycling an old strategy to meddle in the GOP primary by boosting Dan Cox, the 2022 Republican nominee and a Trump acolyte whom Moore defeated by more than 32 points in 2022.“The governor of our state is manipulating the election to get everybody out except for Dan Cox,” Hale told reporters in the days leading up to the primary. “Dan Cox has run continuously for many things. I hate to even mention his name because he’s lost at everything he’s done.”Hale’s running mate, Tyrone Keys, was blunter.“Wes Moore beat Dan Cox like a rented mule in 2022, and he’d do it again,” Keys said. “He is afraid of Ed Hale. He doesn’t want to run against him.”Cox positions himself as the true conservative. The former state lawmaker garnered Trump’s support in 2022, but the president has focused his attention on gubernatorial races elsewhere this cycle that, in some cases, have become rare black marks on his endorsement record.Cox condemned what he called the “dirty and disgusting tactic” of Democrats funding campaign materials seeking to influence the primary in his favor. Those include ads from Moore’s campaign that declare Cox “too conservative” and highlight his past praise from Trump. In 2022, Maryland Democrats and Moore were accused of deploying a similar strategy to promote Cox over Republican rival Kelly Schulz, a former Hogan administration official.“Caring enough to change Maryland for the better is not too conservative, it’s common sense because Wes Moore is too expensive, too dangerous and too incompetent,” Cox wrote on social media.He concluded in a lengthy post: “In short we want NO MOORE.”Neither Hale nor Cox responded to inquiries.In TV ads, mailers, and comments to the media, Maryland Democrats frame the GOP contest as a “clear battle between MAGA and a RINO,” or Republican In Name Only, a label used by some Republicans to accuse someone of being insufficiently conservative.Another Moore campaign ad warns Hale “can’t be trusted” because he was a “lifelong Democrat” who switched parties to “trick everyone.”The Moore campaign insisted it has no candidate preference and that the first-term governor will prevail against either Republican, despite its ads that are designed to portray Cox as more favorable to GOP voters.“We’re not going to take anything for granted, no matter who we’re running against,” Moore spokesman Carter Elliott said in a statement. “Whoever wins the Republican primary will be met with the strongest coordinated campaign Maryland has ever seen, and we will work day and night to make sure in November that voters know what they stand for.”Wes Moore, Governor of Maryland, speaks during the National Action Network (NAN) Convention in New York, Thursday, April 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)
