He didn’t need to. Attendees of the event, hosted by Principles First, a conservative group that calls itself the center-right “alternative to CPAC,” knew exactly who Hogan was talking about.

“For nearly a decade, I’ve been hearing so-called leaders who say one thing in private and then something completely different in public,” he said. “This culture of fear is a plague on our party and on our political system that we can’t afford to ignore.”

The former two-term centrist GOP governor is under no illusion that winning in a deep-blue state will be easy, but he is using his history as a Trump critic to give himself his best chance.

“From the moment that Donald Trump came down the escalator until today, I have always made it clear exactly where I stand,” Hogan said, painting himself as an outsider unafraid to speak the truth. “Unlike many Republicans, I have never wavered and never backed down based on polls or public attacks or fear of political retribution, and I never will.”

Hogan was received warmly by the largely anti-Trump crowd, which included former Tea Party-era Rep. Joe Walsh, an outspoken opponent of the former president who backs Vice President Kamala Harris.

Hogan is facing Democratic rival Angela Alsobrooks, the executive of Prince George’s County. Nonpartisan election forecasters give Alsobrooks the upper hand, but the contest remains a closely watched race that could determine party control of the Senate, which Democrats currently hold by a single seat.

Two recent polls showed Hogan has closed the gap in recent months, one in which he tied with Alsobrooks and the other with him down by 5 points.

Hogan reflected on the ideals he learned from his father, Lawrence Hogan, who in the 1970s faced political retribution for bucking the GOP to support the impeachment of then-President Richard Nixon over the Watergate scandal.

“It’s hard to deny the striking parallels between that time and today. However, there seem to be far fewer profiles in courage in Washington,” he said. “Today, Washington is completely broken because that kind of leadership and that kind of willingness to put country over party has become far too rare.”

Hogan drew a contrast between his governorship and Trump’s time as president, highlighting his response to the pandemic, his decision to send in the Maryland National Guard and state troopers to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, and his ensuing call for Trump to step down. His remarks came in the wake of a new campaign ad that offers a similar criticism, including a thinly veiled condemnation of the “horror” from Trump’s handling of the attack.

But Hogan didn’t only direct his criticism at Republicans and the Trump-era departure from traditional conservative policies. He also made clear he believes Democrats, including Alsobrooks, are part of the “blind partisanship” that leads down a “dark road of extremism and toxic politics and hatred and violence.”

“My opponent in this race for the United States Senate only wants to spew partisan rhetoric about red vs. blue, and I think it’s time to get back to focusing on the red, white, and blue,” Hogan said.

The Alsobrooks campaign made the case that Hogan, who benefits from ads funded by the National Republican Senatorial Committee, is no different than the party trying to elect him.

“The NRSC has one single goal: Take back the Senate majority for Republicans,” Alsobrooks campaign senior adviser Connor Lounsbury told the Washington Examiner. “It doesn’t get much more partisan than that.”