Gov. Larry Hogan is scheduled to be the headline speaker at a fundraiser 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 hes adopted as governor.
It also raises questions about why he would wade into a neighboring states intra-party battle at a time when he is seeking re-election. Polls show Hogans 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 womans 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."
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, hes pretty consistently conservative, said Stephen Medvic, a political scientist at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa. Hes 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 health insurance system.
