Last night, Larry Hogan officially defeated Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown in the gubernatorial race, becoming the first Republican governor in the state of Maryland since 2006. However, since Hogan has never previously held elected public office before, there are some things you may not know yet about our state’s Governor-elect.
Hogan spent half of what Brown did on the campaign. He is the first candidate elected governor after opting into the state’s public financing system. Calling his strategy more of a “grassroots” campaign, the businessman received a $2.6 million grant from the state—about half of what Brown raised—and was prohibited from spending anymore on his campaign.
Both he and his running mate used to work for Ehrlich. From 2003-2007, Hogan served as the Secretary of Appointments to then-Gov. Bob Ehrlich. In his tenure, Hogan appointed more than 7,000 positions in various levels of government. Ehrlich considers him a friend.
His wife teaches at MICA. Yumi Hogan—a Korean-American who will be the first Asian First Lady of Maryland—is an adjunct instructor at Maryland Institute College of Art. She is also an almuna, having earned a BFA in painting from the art school in 2008. She is currently teaching studio drawing.
Hogan was endorsed by the NRA. A couple of weeks ago, the National Rifle Association endorsed him and awarded him a grade of A-minus on his issues. For his part, Hogan insisted the he has no plans to repeal Maryland’s current gun-control law.
Though he’s never been elected public office, he comes from a heavy political family. His father was the U.S. Congressman representing the 5th district of Maryland from 1969-1975. There’s also brother Patrick, a Republican delegate representing district 3A.
His running mate started working for the Bush administration a week before 9/11. Boyd Rutherford, who held a high-ranking position in the General Services Administration, joined the agency a week prior to the terrorist attacks and took part in efforts to provide security in the aftermath. Rutherford also said, once sworn in, he plans on spending two or three days out of his week working in Baltimore.
Hogan loves dogs. During a campaign stop at a farmers’ market in Rockville, Hogan was reportedly very dog friendly. “I’ve shaken tens of thousands of hands, but I’ve petted more dogs,” he told The Washington Post. “If dogs could vote, it would be a landslide victory.”