Larry Hogan Is Not the Centrist We Think He Is
Larry Hogan, despite being a Republican, has achieved a high level of popularity in our state in large part due to his claims of centrism and a perceived ability to work across the aisle. Unfortunately, a closer look at these claims reveals them to be largely empty, and Hogan starts to look more and more like the right-wing governor he truly is.
The great state of Maryland, a progressive place with citizens who want the best for all, not just the favored few, believes in a woman’s right to abortion and to have control over her own body and health. This is where the Hogan centrist train starts to come off the rails. Gov. Hogan recently said that his personal views on abortion “haven’t changed over the last 20-30 years.”
This is a hugely troubling statement once we get to know a bit more about his history on the issue. Just last year, despite the public’s desire for such legislation, we saw Hogan refuse to sign a bill that would fund Planned Parenthood locations in the state even if federal funding was cut (it became law without his signature). In 1980 in Prince George’s County, Hogan proposed banning abortions even in cases of risk to a mother’s health while calling abortion “murder.”
Cyrus Guzdar
Is this the kind of unchanged misogyny our state wants, especially during this tenuous time for Roe v Wade with Brett Kavanaugh now confirmed as a Supreme Court justice?
While working for his father who was the Prince George’s County executive at the time, Hogan drafted an executive order to ban abortion in county hospitals. Do we trust a person who would bypass the will of the people in order to ban abortions by executive order? Hogan has also supported proposed anti-abortion legislation at the federal level, and during a failed congressional run campaigned for an anti-abortion amendment to the Constitution.
Is this the person we trust to keep our abortion laws intact? I’d love to believe that he’ll respect the will of the people on this issue.
Another issue that should trouble many Marylanders is Hogan’s cowardice in refusing to condemn the president and his many deplorable policies that go against who we are as a state. This is especially true on education, a topic all voters should find crucially important. Hogan has adopted the Betsy DeVos voucher plan; a plan that led to the downfall of Detroit Public Schools and has little support among academics. Her plan pushed nearly half of Detroit students to charter schools, which eventually led to the further collapse of those schools.
This exemplifies the way Hogan ignores communities of color, which disproportionately suffer when voucher programs are instituted. Under his watch, school spending as a percentage of the overall budget has gone down; a statistic that should greatly trouble any Marylander. Doubling taxpayer funding for private schools while taking money away from public schools is anything but centrism; it’s straight out of the Republican playbook. Then, in a moment unbecoming of any non-Trump politician but indicative of what the Republican Party is today, he called our state’s public school teachers, “thugs.”
A person who shows such disdain for public education isn’t one we should entrust with the future of our children. It’s truly sad that we have a governor more interested in forwarding failed conservative policies as opposed to making efforts to lift our state’s poorest communities out of poverty. It can come as no surprise then that our state’s school system has fallen nationally under Hogan’s watch.
We deserve a governor who reflects our values, not one who cowardly ducks social issues. The courage and foresight required to do so just doesn’t seem to be in Hogan, as we see him tout candidates with “rural values,” a phrase often used as a dog whistle by the right. He opposes plans that dare attempt to provide all Marylanders with health care, something most of us see as a basic human right despite conservatives’ desire to maximize industry profits.
There’s a reason Hogan is friends with Mike Pence and Chris Christie; it surely isn’t centrism. Time and time again, we see a governor who refuses to stand up for marginalized populations in our society. We need a governor who will stand up for all Marylanders including people of color and women. Our current governor has proven he won’t. Maryland, it’s time for a change.
--Cyrus Guzdar
The writer is a poker player/writer from Baltimore, a Maryland native, has a Master’s in Public Policy from American University, and can be reached at cguzdar@gmail.com
