After the 2022 Election, I wrote that for Maryland Republicans It's Not Who's Next, But Who's Left? That question remains less than eighteen months before Maryland’s gubernatorial primary elections.
Dan Cox’s galactic failure as a candidate in 2022 decimated the Republican bench, so there is no presumptive Republican gubernatorial nominee for the first time since 1994.
The problem for Maryland Republicans is that the Trump Drag in 2018 and the Cox Drag in 2022 decimated the Republican bench, wiping out a whole slew of potential gubernatorial from public office. Trump Drag in 2026 is not going to help candidates in 2026 either and may persuade some candidates to sit out the cycle altogether.
As Republicans continue to turn away from their self-inflected nightmare of 2022, who could run for Governor in 2026? Well, the likely frontrunner sure as hell won’t surprise you.