Less than an hour after the greatest loss of his political career, Republican Larry Hogan took the stage in front of his supporters gathered at the Graduate Hotel in Annapolis.
Four years after Donald Trump forever altered trust in America’s historical respect for the outcome of a fair election, Hogan did something his party’s presidential candidate wouldn’t: he accepted defeat.
He had just called Democrat Angela Alsobrooks, Hogan said, “and I congratulated her on her hard-fought victory.”
“Tonight, regardless of who you voted for,” he went on, “we can all take pride in the election of the first black woman to represent Maryland in the United States Senate.
“But now,” he continued, “is the time for us to come together and to move forward as one state and one nation to respect the will of the voters and the outcome of the democratic process.”
The crowd, which had flocked to Annapolis Tuesday night in anticipation of a Hogan victory, cheered.
If it seems strange for a Republican candidate’s crowd to cheer for a win from a Democratic opponent, perhaps it shouldn’t; Retired Brigadier General and Hogan advisor John Teichert, who was originally running for the same Senate seat before stepping aside to make room for Hogan, said that the crowd Hogan draws is unique.
“There are a lot of people in this room, maybe the only watch party in the country, that are Trump voters and Harris voters,” Teichert said.
Hogan, the paradoxically popular two-term Republican governor in deep-blue Maryland, has eschewed Trump’s endorsements, stood up to his policies and criticized his actions since storming onto the political scene with his gubernatorial victory in 2014.
After a contentious Senate race, one that was far more hotly contested than almost anyone anticipated, Hogan used the final moments of his campaign to etch one more contrast between himself and his party’s figurehead.
On Jan. 6, 2021, standing in the park behind the White House, Trump directed his supporters to the Capitol with the goal of resisting his own defeat.
“The Democrats are hopeless – they never vote for anything.” Trump said. “But we’re going to try to give our Republicans … the kind of pride and boldness they need to take back our country.”
Hogan, before leaving the podium, left his supporters with a very different final message.
“(It) can be about so much more than just red versus blue,” Hogan said. “Though this chapter ends tonight, our work and our commitment to a brighter future and a better path forward will continue.”
Robert Stewart contributed reporting for this story.