FREDERICK COUNTY, Md. — Maryland’s Republican nominee for governor is being called out by critics as an “extremist” after how he reacted to the search of former President Donald Trump’s residence in Florida this week.
Candidate Dan Cox vowed that if he’s elected, he would use the Maryland State Police and Maryland National Guard to resist federal authority in Maryland.
“As governor, I will use the 9th and 10th Amendments, the Maryland Constitution and Declaration of Rights, the MSP and Maryland Guard to stand against all rogue actions of this out of control and tyrannical Biden administration….” Cox posted on his Facebook page and in a fundraising letter to supporters.
Cox called the search at Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence “Communist Stasi police state tactics."
Cox's campaign said Wednesday he was too busy to take follow-up questions from WUSA9 about his comments.
Maryland’s Democratic party used Twitter to call Cox's comments “extremism."
"Maryland will reject this extremism," the party tweeted. "Cox is unfit and unworthy of the office he seeks."
Cox, who is endorsed by Trump, has been called a “Q-Anon whack job" by Maryland’s current Republican Gov. Larry Hogan.
Some political strategists predicted Cox would take a page from the playbooks of Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin or Hogan who turned toward the moderate political middle to get elected.
"That's the pathway to success in blue-leaning states for Republicans," said George Washington University political scientist Dr. Christopher Warshaw. "This places him outside the mainstream in Maryland."
Warshaw said data from previous gubernatorial elections in Maryland and other states over the past several decades show candidates that fail to moderate typically perform 2% to 5% worse than others.
“Dan Cox as far as I can tell really hasn't tried to pivot toward the middle," Warshaw observed. "The statements feel like he's kind of doubling down."
Warshaw predicted that will repel a segment of "the kind of moderate voters that tend to be pivotal in elections in Maryland."