Former Republican State Del. Dan Cox has filed to run for governor in the upcoming November election.
Cox won the Republican gubernatorial primary in 2022 but was handily defeated by Gov. Wes Moore in the general election. He filed to join the 2026 race on Friday, according to the Maryland State Board of Elections’ website.
President Donald Trump offered an early endorsement to Cox shortly after he announced his candidacy in 2021. However, then-Republican Governor Larry Hogan declined to endorse Cox during his initial run for governor, calling him a “conspiracy-theory-believing QAnon whack-job.”
During his time at the State House, Cox tried to impeach Hogan over his COVID-19 prevention policies.
Hogan announced in The Baltimore Sun this month that he would not run for governor again after serving two terms in the post.
Rob Krop, the owner of The Machine Gun Nest shooting range in Frederick, was listed as Cox’s running mate on the board of elections website.
In 2024, Cox was Krop’s lead attorney in a criminal case accusing Krop of conspiring with Frederick County Sheriff Chuck Jenkins to illegally procure machine guns. Krop was acquitted in October 2024, and federal prosecutors dismissed charges against Jenkins the following month.
The pair join numerous other candidates vying for the Republican ticket, including businessman Ed Hale Sr., who initially launched a Democratic gubernatorial campaign but switched parties in August after suggesting that he would likely lose to Moore in a primary race.
Cox did not immediately respond to request for comment.
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