Annapolis, MD – Maryland Governor Larry Hogan began his historic second term in office Wednesday, Jan. 16 in Annapolis with a pledge to continue to seek “bipartisan, common sense solutions” on behalf of state residents.
Hogan expressed admiration for three men who have recently passed—his father, former congressman and county executive Larry Hogan Sr.; former President George H.W. Bush and Senator John McCain. Hogan noted how all three men, each Republicans, always placed principles ahead of politics. The governor was introduced at the outdoor ceremony by former Florida Governor Jeb Bush. Besides noting that Hogan was a Florida State University graduate, Bush called Maryland’s chief executive “the best example in public life today.” The son and brother of former U.S. presidents, Jeb Bush declared that what is happening in Annapolis is “the antithesis of what’s happening in Washington, DC,” which he characterized as an “era of disruption and volatility.”
Hogan called the entire Bush family “a shining example of public service.” Of McCain, whose funeral the governor attended last year at the Naval Academy, Hogan stated the late Arizona senator and former presidential candidate “always put his country before his party or himself.”
During his address, Hogan spoke briefly about his administration’s first term accomplishments, including working toward, “easing the tax burden, funding education and meeting transportation challenges.” Hogan had to accomplish his goals while dealing with a state legislature in which Democrats hold a super majority.
“We have spent four years working together to unshackle the unlimited potential and promise of this great state,” said Hogan. “We have debated, discussed and reasoned together honestly and productively, with integrity and sincere purpose. We argued without acrimony, negotiated without hidden agendas and compromised without political posturing. We didn’t demand Republican solutions or Democratic solutions. We sought out bipartisan, common sense solutions that worked for the people of Maryland. We didn’t surrender our principles. We simply practiced the art of the possible and we trusted Marylanders to appreciate the distinction. Do the right thing and the politics will work itself out—that was our plan.”
The governor fired a few verbal salvos at the nation’s leaders in Washington. “Let’s repudiate the debilitating politics practiced elsewhere—including just down the road in Washington—where insults substitute for debate, recriminations for negotiation, and gridlock for compromise. Where the heat, finger-pointing and rancor suffocates the light and the only result is divisiveness and dysfunction.” Hogan, who has been mentioned as a potential Republican challenger to President Donald Trump in 2020, said leaders of both political parties “refuse to give up even a little to get a lot done. Neither side wants to make progress. They just want to make demands and win arguments. That’s not governing. That’s just political theater, and most of us are sick and tired of that drama.”
Prior to the outdoor swearing-in ceremony, Hogan and Lt. Governor Boyd Rutherford took the oath of office in the Maryland Senate Chamber. The outdoor event included several musical performances, including the singing of the Star-Spangled Banner by the Naval Academy Glee Club. Air National Guard aviators provided a flyover after the Guard’s cannons boomed 21 times after Hogan took the oath of office.
Contact Marty Madden at marty.madden@thebaynet.com