In a state that hasn’t elected a Republican senator since 1977, Hogan invoked Sen. Joe Manchin’s (I-WV) bipartisan reputation during his race to replace retiring Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD). 

During an interview Thursday, CNBC host Becky Quick asked Hogan if he sees himself playing the role of Manchin and his lone-wolf colleague Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ). 

“No question about that,” Hogan replied. “I believe I will be exactly in that kind of a role.”

The latest polling from AARP indicates Hogan is in a dead heat with Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks to win the Senate election, a shocking gain for Republicans after Cardin won his last reelection by 35 percentage points.

Hogan’s words echo comments he made about aspiring to fill Manchin’s shoes earlier this summer. Former President George W. Bush mentioned a comparison between the two during conversations with Hogan, according to the ex-governor’s remarks in June. 

“I think because it was the ability to stand up to the party and just try to come up and make decisions about what you think is right,” Hogan said as he explained why Bush made the connection. 

Both Manchin and Sinema are former members of the Democratic Party, known for their willingness to differ with caucus leadership. The two are also affiliated with the centrist No Labels organization, which focuses on reducing polarization in the highest echelons of politics. Widely viewed as bipartisan voices in the upper chamber, the members have both switched their party affiliation to independent since 2022. The pair have also announced they will not seek reelection. 

Hogan, who served as the co-chairman of No Labels in 2023, said he wants to continue their “consensus in the middle, problem-solver approach” and is disappointed about the decision of his “good friends” to leave Congress. 

“Unfortunately, some really good people are leaving the Senate because they’re so fed up with this divisive, angry politics of the broken political system,” he told Quick. “I wish they were still there, but I’m going to try to be the exact same kind of leader.”

Hogan added that he’s committed to serving as a centrist senator if he’s elected in November.  

“If they want my vote, they’re going to have to do what I think is right for my state of Maryland and for the country, and I don’t care if it’s the Republicans or the Democrats,” he said. 

Hogan served two terms as Maryland’s governor before leaving office last year as one of the country’s most popular chief executives. The Republican has enjoyed high favorability ratings in his state despite hailing from a Democratic stronghold that hasn’t voted for a GOP presidential candidate since the Reagan era. In 2020, he declined to support former President Donald Trump and has continued to espouse centrist rhetoric during the course of his Senate campaign, calling himself “pro-choice” earlier this year. 

In response to Vice President Kamala Harris’s recent pledge to include a Republican in her Cabinet if elected, Hogan hailed her promise as a win for the country. 

“This is exactly how cabinets should be,” Hogan said in a post to X. ”This isn’t about red vs. blue. It’s about the red, white, and blue — and getting our country back on track.”

He said that during his tenure as the governor of Maryland, “our administration was proud to have a bipartisan cabinet — just as many Democrats as Republicans.”