It's time Washington listen to Sen. McCain’s warning on the broken status quo

Former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan reflects on the importance of independent leadership and the need for principled leaders to put the American people first, as he remembers the late Sens. John McCain and Joe Lieberman, who were both giants of American politics.

This week marks seven years since Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) historic vote to save ObamaCare. I will never forget a phone call I had with him just moments before he gave the big thumbs down on the Senate floor. He was reaching out about a statement I had issued opposing the Republicans’ effort to repeal ObamaCare. He thanked me for putting people over party and confidentially let me know he was going to do the same.

Although we shared the same concern that our health care system desperately needs commonsense reforms to lower costs, McCain and I both knew that the Republican bill to repeal ObamaCare was irresponsible and would jeopardize the health care coverage for our citizens. 

As McCain told me that day, his vote was about far more than just ObamaCare. While he was courageously battling brain cancer, he wanted to send a message to his colleagues and the nation that the broken status quo in Washington could not continue. In a speech later that day, he appealed that the Senate was being weighed down by partisan dysfunction and was on the “decline.” 

Can anyone dispute that the problem has grown far worse since McCain spoke those words seven years ago? Our political discourse is spiraling into rabid tribalism, hatred and violence. Politicians in Washington care more about appealing to the loudest and angriest voices than actually delivering for the people they serve. They are “trying to find a way to win without help from across the aisle.” Ultimately, the losers of all this partisan dysfunction are the American people. 

It wasn’t always this way. As McCain said: “I’ve known and admired men and women in the Senate who played much more than a small role in our history, true statesmen, giants of American politics. They came from both parties, and from various backgrounds.”

Last week, I had the honor of attending a memorial service to remember one of those giants: Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.). Though they were on different sides of the aisle, Lieberman and McCain were true friends who both loved this country and worked together on countless issues for the good of the nation.

When my father Larry Hogan Sr. served in Congress, he would debate about real issues with his colleagues across the aisle then sit down and actually get things done. Fifty years ago this week, he put aside partisanship and answered the demands of his conscience to do what he thought was the right thing for the state and nation that he loved, becoming the first Republican to come out for the impeachment of President Nixon. 

This type of statesmanship has become far too rare. Increasingly, principled leaders who care more about making the Senate work for their constituents than their Twitter accounts are heading for the exits. Instead of serving as “an important check on the powers of the Executive” and working together to advance commonsense solutions, politicians in the Senate toe the party line and perpetuate the broken status quo to advance their careers.

Every election cycle, partisans on both sides of the aisle tell the American people that the only answer is just to vote straight party line regardless of the character and experience of the candidates. And every election cycle, our politics becomes even more divisive and dysfunctional as a result. 

The only way we can fix this mess is to elect independent leaders who are not beholden to the broken system. I don’t need a job or another title. I am running to be a completely different kind of senator. As a key swing vote who has never hesitated to stand up to my party, both parties will have to earn my support.

Only Maryland can count on my vote. That independence will give me an outsized influence to stand up for what is right, put Maryland at the center of every deal, and help make the Senate work again for the people.  

This isn’t just the typical fight between Democrats and Republicans. It’s more important than that. This is a fight for America’s future, and that is a fight worth fighting. McCain knew the truth: “The success of the Senate is important to the continued success of America…That responsibility is more important than any of our personal interests or political affiliations.”

Larry Hogan served as governor of Maryland from 2015-2023. He is the Republican nominee for this year’s Maryland U.S. Senate race.