PERRYVILLE — Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan made several stops in Cecil County Saturday as part of his “Hogan For Maryland Bus Tour.”
Hogan is seeking the Republican nomination for the US Senate seat now held by Ben Cardin. Almost a year ago, Cardin announced that, after serving three terms, he would not seek re-election in the 2024 race. Hogan is one of seven on the GOP primary ballot. There are 10 names on the Democratic ticket.
His first Cecil County stop was at Winbak Farm in Chesapeake City, where owners Joe and JoAnn Thompson and their staff introduced him to some of their thoroughbred horses; including the newest members of the herd.
From there, the Hogan tour bus traveled to Perryville and connected with Johnny Zhang, owner of Johnny’s Sushi House.
“Cecil County Executive Danielle Hornberger called me and asked,” Zhang said, describing how he became part of the statewide tour. “Oh my gosh, I was so surprised.”
Zhang offered to have his chef show Hogan how to roll sushi, but the candidate declined, saying he was satisfied to watch. Even more so, he was excited to eat the sushi.
“I like all kinds of sushi,” Hogan said, adding he didn’t think he could properly roll the rice, fish and vegetables in the correct fashion.
“I came here to meet the original Johnny,” Hogan said, shaking hands with Zhang and his sons Kyle and Kevin.
Hogan said this bus tour started over a week ago with the goal of covering as many of Maryland’s 23 counties as possible.
“Most of the places we stopped at are small businesses, mom and pop stores, fire departments and sheriff’s offices,” he said. “We just want to say ‘hello’ to real people.”
The governor of Maryland from 2015-2022, Hogan said he got back into seeking office to work for the state and to fix “our nation’s broken politics.” Even though he’s not currently holding office, Hogan said that the morning the Francis Scott Key Bridge was knocked down by a freighter, he reached out to his successor.
“I immediately reached out to Gov. (Wes) Moore and said, ‘We are all Team Maryland,’” Hogan recalled. “This is so critical to the whole state and the Mid-Atlantic region.”
Hogan said Moore agreed this was not a time for party politics and that red tape needs to be cut to get the channel cleared and the bridge re-built.
When the bus left Cecil County it traveled to Harford to tour Hopkins Farm Brewery in Havre de Grace and to walk downtown Bel Air.
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