Ex-Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan will not run for president in 2024

Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan will not seek the GOP presidential nomination in 2024, he said Sunday.

“I did give it serious consideration, and I talked to people everywhere, and I talked to my family and it was a tough decision, but I've decided that I will not be a candidate for the Republican nomination for president,” Hogan told CBS’ Robert Costa during an interview on “Face the Nation.”

Hogan’s decision to forgo a bid was a personal one, he told Costa.

“It was like, I didn't need that job. I didn't need to run for another office. It was really I was considering it because I thought it was public service and maybe I can make a difference,” Hogan said.

Though he acknowledged challenging former President Donald Trump would be an uphill battle in a GOP primary, “that didn’t really scare me,” Hogan said.

“It would be a tough race. And he's very tough. But, you know, I beat life-threatening cancer. So having Trump call me names on Twitter didn't really scare me off."

The moderate Republican, who has criticized Trump and members of his own party for claiming the 2020 election was stolen, noted that a “pile up” of candidates would make it more difficult for any one person to gain significant support.

“Right now, you have — you know, Trump and [Ron] DeSantis at the top of the field, they’re soaking up all the oxygen, getting all the attention, and then a whole lot of the rest of us in single digits and the more of them you have, the less chance you have for somebody rising up,” Hogan said.

Limited to two terms as governor, Hogan left office in January. During his tenure, he consistently had among the highest approval ratings in the nation of any governor, despite being a Republican governing one of the nation’s bluest states.

David Cohen contributed to this report.