Hogan campaign looks inward for cash

Charity begins at home and so, apparently, does raising money for a run for Maryland Governor.

Larry Hogan

Larry Hogan, a Republican, donated $25,000 through seven companies associated with his Annapolis-based Hogan Companies and another $20,473.64 in in-kind donations including food, fuel and office supplies.

Additionally, Hogan personally loaned his campaign $100,000, according to a campaign finance report filed with the Maryland State Board of Elections earlier this week.

“I think it shows that Larry has some skin in the game,” said Adam Dubitsky a Hogan campaign spokesman. “He’s made a significant investment in the campaign.”

The total donations make Hogan, who reported raising about $453,000, the single largest donor to his campaign. Excluding the loan, which is not calculated as part of the contribution amount reported to the state, Hogan’s corporate and in-kind donations amount to about 10 percent of his total take since he announced earlier this year.

“Larry would not feel comfortable asking people to donate their hard-earned money to this effort to change Maryland if he himself hadn’t made a significant personal investment,” Dubitsky said.

The next largest donor is St. John Properties, which donated $32,000 through eight corporate entities. Hogan’s campaign refunded part of that money to St. John Properties in the form of more than $12,000 in rent for his campaign office that is located in an office park owned by the Baltimore county-based developer.

Hogan so far has spent more than $333,000 and has nearly $168,000 in cash on hand, according to the report.

A spokesman for David Craig, the Harford County executive and rival in the Republican primary, said the Hogan report is not as impressive as it seems.

“One can make the argument that Larry really has been in the race longer than anyone else,” said Jim Petitt, a Craig spokesman.

Pettit worked for Hogan’s grassroots organization Change Maryland, which was formed after Hogan briefly considered running for governor (he stepped aside when his former boss Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich decided to run).

“The whole idea of Change Maryland was that it was supposed to morph into a campaign,” Petitt said. “The amount of money raised is less impressive than meets the eye.”