A week after winning the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate, Larry Hogan is turning his attention to public safety, even as his Democratic opponent continues to focus on the former governor’s position on abortion.
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A week after winning the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate, Larry Hogan is turning his attention to public safety, even as his Democratic opponent continues to focus on the former governor’s position on abortion.
The 10-point position paper released Wednesday by Hogan, his first since the May 14 primary, addresses some public safety issues that were part of his two terms as governor. It also includes red meat for Republican base voters who want stricter enforcement along the country’s southern border.
“We can no longer let politics get in the way of public safety,” Hogan said in a statement along with the plan. “There are bipartisan, common-sense solutions that the federal government can urgently adopt that will make a difference and save lives. In the Senate, I will make it a top priority to bring people from both parties together to get this done, support our law enforcement, and make our communities safer.”
Hogan released the paper following a Wednesday morning appearance on WBAL Radio. He also recently met with groups representing local and federal authorities.
Topping Hogan’s list are harsher punishments for violent repeat offenders. Hogan said he would support continued federal efforts to reduce crime in communities using an “‘Al Capone model’ of federal firearms prosecution, fraud and other criminal charges” against repeat violent offenders.
As governor, Hogan repeatedly proposed laws that imposed harsher penalties on violent repeat offenders. Those bills repeatedly failed in the legislature.
He also unsuccessfully proposed legislation aimed at holding judges accountable. Hogan includes similar calls for accountability as part of his Senate campaign, saying he would seek to hold “prosecutors and Senate-confirmed candidates” accountable.
“We passed legislation before, when I was governor… the judicial transparency bill, to hold them accountable, because it was outrageous that people were arrested five, six times for violent crimes and did not serve their sentences and were left on the streets.” Hogan said during Wednesday’s radio interview. “You know, we have some prosecutors, even previously in Baltimore City, who refuse to prosecute crimes.”
The document also calls for stronger enforcement along the country’s southern border, including more Customs and Border Protection agents and immigration judges. Hogan also called for “fixing the asylum process,” although the document does not say what that solution would include, beyond working to find a bipartisan solution.
A campaign spokesperson for Angela Alsobrooks, the Prince George’s County Democratic candidate, did not respond to a request for comment on the Hogan plan.
Hogan’s focus on crime leads, with recent polls showing public safety remains a top concern for voters. A poll released in April by Goucher College, in partnership with the Baltimore Banner, found that 78% of voters surveyed said a candidate’s position on public safety would be an important consideration in the upcoming election.
It comes as violent crime in Maryland has been trending downward over the past decade, including in 2022, the most recent year for which complete statistics exist.
Earlier this year, lawmakers were told that violent crime in Maryland decreased 16% between 2012 and 2022. Nationally, the average decline was 2% over the same decade, according to a report from the Justice Center. Council of State Governments.
Baltimore recorded 263 homicides in 2023, the first time in eight years that the city reported fewer than 300 homicides. But at the same time, the city experienced an increase in violence involving young people.
In neighboring Baltimore County, authorities reported declines in both homicides and nonfatal shootings. The county reported 29 homicides in 2023, down 15% year over year and nearly 50% fewer than in 2021. The county also reported a 14% decrease in non-fatal shootings in 2023 compared to the previous year.
Concern for public safety ranked first among nine issues in the survey that voters said would influence the election, beating jobs and the economy, taxes and government spending, health care and gun control. Six in 10 voters said a candidate’s position on abortion would be a major factor in determining their vote.
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