GOP steps up bid to persuade Hogan to run for Senate in Md.

By STEVE PEOPLES
AP National Politics Writer

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and other leading Republicans are intensifying a personal late-stage push to persuade Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan to run for the Senate. Moderate Republicans including Sen. Susan Collins of Maine have made personal appeals to the term-limited Maryland governor, a vocal critic of former President Donald Trump. And several other Washington officials have shared internal polling and made financial pledges to encourage Hogan to challenge Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen in a matchup Republicans believe could scramble the national Senate landscape. Democrats are already bracing for difficult midterm elections across the country.