In his final weeks in office, Governor Hogan has joined local and regional media outlets for interviews to discuss his legacy. Despite facing unprecedented challenges such as the Baltimore riots, cancer, and COVID, Governor Hogan is leaving office as the most popular governor in Maryland history with approval ratings consistently over 70%.
Below are excerpts from the interviews:
On Leading Maryland In The Right Direction: “One of the things that I’m most proud of is that the people of Maryland think we did a pretty good job, and after eight years and lots of challenges in a difficult environment, we tried to put aside the toxic angry rhetoric in politics…and I think people appreciate the trying to work together.”
On Turning Maryland’s Economy Around: “I ran for governor as a small business guy who was very frustrated with what was happening. Forty-three taxes in a row and killing our businesses and jobs. And I promised to try and do something about that. So we’ve cut taxes eight years in a row by $4.7 billion dollars. I’m the only republican governor in America to get a democratic legislature to cut taxes. I inherited a a $5.1 billion dollar deficit. We turned it into a $5.6 billion dollar surplus. We were 49th out of 50th states in economic performance, we went to number six. The biggest economic turnaround in America.”
On The Future of the Republican Party: “The party’s got to develop a more positive hopeful message that appeals to more people, like we did here in Maryland…I think the party needs to focus on moving beyond the base. I was a Reagan guy when I was younger, and he always talked about building a bigger tent, and that’s what the Republican party needs to do. Not shrinking the tent, which is what we’ve been doing lately.”
Below are Governor Hogan’s Interviews.
Governor Hogan Joins The Hugh Hewitt Show
WTOP News: Larry Hogan looks back at time as Md. governor
AP News: “Hogan cited his experience in responding to unrest in Baltimore by sending the National Guard to the city in his first year in office in 2015 as well as being governor during the COVID-19 pandemic, and working with a heavily Democratic state legislature to pass tax relief.”