Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) entered office as a mystery man.
Having never held elective office before, he had no policy record to scrutinize. No paper trail. Plenty of people had expectations and assumptions based on his political and professional history, his rhetoric and his campaign promises. But no one could be sure.
Now, on the cusp of a second term following a record-shattering reelection last week, Hogan remains something of a mystery, even with his four-year record. He’s still a man who engenders assumptions and expectations, based on the traits he displayed in his first term. But questions persist.
Unburdened by the need to put himself before Maryland voters again, but with the possibility of elevating his national profile dangling before him, will Hogan undergo a political transformation? What will his priorities be in a second term?
Will Hogan seek to punish political foes? Will he – as some Democrats fear and many conservatives hope – lurch to the right?
