Republican Gov. Larry Hogan said Wednesday he's not voting for his party's presumptive presidential nominee, Donald Trump.
Hogan aides confirmed the governor told reporters "I don't plan to" vote for Trump and that he hadn't decided what to do when he goes into the voting booth in November.
The Maryland governor had said repeatedly he would not endorse the controversial real estate developer, that he had no plans to campaign for Trump and that he was skipping the Republican National Convention in Cleveland.
But previously, he had declined to say whether he would cast a ballot for Trump.
Last week, he told reporters to google his previous comments rather than answer the question directly.
A popular Republican in Democratic-leaning state, Hogan has been distancing himself from Trump since February, when New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Hogan's friend and political mentor, endorsed Trump.
Hogan responded at the time by saying he had no plans to get involved in presidential politics.
Maryland's GOP voters picked Trump by an overwhelming majority in the April 26 primary.
Maryland Democrats have tried to tie Hogan to Trump. In March, Rep. John Delaney, a Potomac Democrat, paid for a mobile billboard to circle the State House in Annapolis with the message: "Silence is an endorsement."
On Wednesday, Charles Conner, the executive director of Maryland's Democratic Party, said that Hogan should go further than choosing not to vote for Trump and join the handful of other Republicans speaking out against Trump.
(c)2016 The Baltimore Sun
