Hogan to help raise funds for Pa. conservative
Governor will speak at event in York on Thursday
Gov. Larry Hogan is scheduled to be the headline speaker at a fundraiser Thursday for a conservative candidate for Pennsylvania governor whose populist style has been compared to that of President Donald J. Trump.
Hogan plans to speak at an event in York, Pa., on behalf of Scott Wagner, a state senator from York County who is one of two announced candidates vying for the Republican nomination to challenge Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf. More Republican candidates are expected to enter the race before the primary next spring.
Hogan's appearance could play into one of Maryland Democrats’ attack lines against him — that the real Larry Hogan is far to the right of the moderate positions he’s adopted as governor.
It also raises questions about why he would wade into a neighboring state’s intra-party battle at a time when he is seeking re-election. Polls show Hogan’s approval ratings are sky-high, but Democrats hope to bring those down by tying Hogan to Trump.
They were quick to pounce on news of Hogan's plans.
"Governor Larry Hogan is headed to an exclusive fundraiser to stump for a Republican who wants to gut the Affordable Care Act, opposes a woman’s right to choose, and denies climate change," said party Chair Kathleen Matthews. "Like a typical politician, Governor Hogan claims to be a moderate but he secretly supports his ultra-conservative friends who have nothing in common with Maryland values."
Andrew Brightwell, a spokesman for the Hogan campaign, said the governor and Wagner are personal friends.
“Senator Wagner supported the Governor’s campaign,” Brightwell said. “This is simply returning the favor.”
Mileah Kromer, director of the Sarah T. Hughes Field Politics Center at Goucher College, said she finds it surprising that Hogan would align himself with a “Trump-like” candidate. She said it gives state Democrats something to use against him.
“To me it seems out of character for such a cautious politician,” Kromer said. “What Hogan needs to do is rebuild that Hogan coalition and run as an affable moderate.”
Wagner has staked out a conservative set of policies that include climate change skepticism, enthusiastic support for fracking, and opposition to Obamacare and abortion rights.
“On virtually every issue, he’s pretty consistently conservative,” said Stephen Medvic, a political scientist at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa. “He’s going to position himself very much as a Trump-style [candidate].”
Hogan has boasted of his support for measures to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that scientists believe are the driving force behind climate change. He signed one of the strongest fracking bans in the United States. And he recently joined a bipartisan group of governors, including Wolf, in urging members of Congress not to repeal the Affordable Care Act and instead to find ways to fix the
While Hogan has not been an ally of teachers’ unions, he has avoided direct confrontations with them and has touted his full funding of the state’s education formulas. Wagner has promised an all-out attempt to break the power of public sector unions much as
Hogan refused to support Trump in last November’s election, Wagner was an enthusiastic Trump supporter and has bragged about his similarities with the president.
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