Former Gov. Larry Hogan (R-MD) won’t challenge former President Donald Trump for the GOP nomination in 2024 — but he’s not ruling out a presidential bid altogether.
Hogan, who has long been considered a possible 2024 presidential contender, announced on Sunday he would not seek the GOP nomination. However, he refused to rule out the possibility of pursuing a third-party bid a few days later.
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"I have ruled out seeking the Republican nomination. And I haven't ruled [running as an independent] out,” Hogan told ABC News on Tuesday. “But it's not something I'm really working toward or thinking about.”
Republicans have kept their eyes on Hogan since he left office earlier this year, waiting to see if he would challenge Trump in the 2024 GOP primary. However, Hogan announced over the weekend he would not run as a Republican over concerns that a crowded field would hand Trump the nomination.
"To once again be a successful governing party, we must move on from Donald Trump,” Hogan said on Sunday. “There are several competent Republican leaders who have the potential to step up and lead. But the stakes are too high for me to risk being part of another multicar pileup that could potentially help Mr. Trump recapture the nomination.”
Hogan acknowledged that finding a candidate who could pose a serious threat to Trump or Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) would be challenging, but he urged the party to lean on only one person to do so.
“There can only be one,” he said. "Trump has to stumble, which is hard. And he's been diminishing. But still, he's the 800-pound gorilla. And then, if he doesn't make it, it goes to DeSantis, and then DeSantis has to stumble. And then you have to consolidate everyone else and overcome that."
DeSantis has not yet announced a presidential bid, but the Florida governor is widely expected to announce a White House run in the coming months.
Hogan also hinted at a third-party ticket being considered by the centrist group No Labels, of which he is an honorary co-chairman. No Labels is currently courting centrist lawmakers from both parties to create a so-called “unity ticket” that offers an alternative to “divisive” candidates.
No Labels has been quietly working to craft a bipartisan third-party ticket for over a year, looking to give voters an alternative option to candidates they view as extreme. As of September, the group has already raised more than $46 million and has more than 400 volunteers seeking ballot access in several battleground states, according to the New York Times.
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The No Labels ticket is meant to act as an “insurance policy,” with the group vowing to drop its bid if either party nominates a candidate who is acceptable to centrist voters. A rematch between Biden and Trump, for example, could be enough to pull the trigger, Hogan said.
“I'm not sure we're gonna get to that point. I don't know that,” Hogan said. “Frankly, I'm hopeful that Donald Trump is not going to be the Republican nominee. And I'm going to work toward that goal. And I'm assuming Biden may be the nominee, but who knows? I mean, he's 80 years old. And we got a long ways to go.”