Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan snuffed talks he is considering a third-party bid by endorsing Nikki Haley’s 2024 presidential run on Sunday.
Hogan said ‘it’s time’ for Republicans to rally behind the former United Nations ambassador.
It comes days after Hogan stepped down from the board of No Labels – a third party aiming to launch a bipartisan ticket in 2024. Some thought he left the movement to launch his own bid, but Sunday’s announcement signals he has other plans for this election cycle.
Haley has seen a polling bump in recent months ahead of Iowa’s caucuses on Monday and New Hampshire’s primary election on January 23. Once in a solid third place, she now battles it out with DeSantis for second place behind former President Donald Trump.
Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (right) endorsed Nikki Haley’s presidential bid during an interview with CNN on Sunday – the day before the January 15 Iowa caucuses. It snuffs speculation that Hogan left the No Labels movement board this week to launch his own presidential bid
Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley has seen a polling bump over the last month, putting her in a solid second place ahead of the primary contests kicking off on Monday in Iowa and followed by New Hampshire on January 23
Hogan’s goal has always been to give the Republican Party the best chance at getting a candidate on the ticket that could beat Trump. He joined No Labels last year, sparking speculation he could run on a unity ticket with a Democrat.
‘You know, I have been saying since last spring when I made the decision not to run that I really did not want to see a multi-car pile-up that would just enable Donald Trump,’ Hogan told CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday.
He says he believes Haley has the best chance of winning in 2024.
‘I think we want to have the strongest possible nominee in November,’ Hogan added in an interview with Jake Tapper. ‘Polls show that is Nikki Haley – that she’s 17 points ahead of Joe Biden, and it’s a toss-up with Trump and Biden and DeSantis is losing.’
‘So, yes, I think it’s time for the party to get behind Nikki Haley,’ the former governor noted. ‘My friend Chris Christie dropped out of the race in New Hampshire. I appreciate his effort. But I believe that Nikki Haley is the strongest chance for us to put forth our best possible candidate for November.’
The latest polling for Iowa’s caucus isn’t promising for either DeSantis or Haley.
The NBC News/Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll was conducted Jan. 7-12 with 705 likely Republican caucus goers. Its margin of error is plus-minus 3.7 percentage points
The last pre-caucus poll from NBC News/Des Moines Register/Mediacom released Saturday night shows Trump still solidly in first place with 48 percent support in the first primary contest state.
While Haley rose to second place with 20 percent, it’s still not looking like enough to emerge victorious on Monday.
Meanwhile, DeSantis dropped to third in Iowa with 16 percent, which is a gap with Haley just outside the 3.7 percent margin of error.
Separate polling showing hypothetical general election match-ups with Joe Biden reveals that Haley has a bigger lead over the current president than Trump.
A Wall Street Journal poll from December placed Haley 17 points ahead of Biden, compared to Trump’s just four-point lead over the incumbent president.