Dems meddle in Trump-Hogan proxy war in Maryland

Dan Cox’s campaign for governor of Maryland got an early endorsement from Donald Trump last fall. And now, Democrats want Republican primary voters to know all about it.

The Democratic Governors Association launched a new ad Friday blasting Cox, a state lawmaker, for his ties to Trump, for being “100 percent pro-life” and for “refusing to support any federal restrictions” on guns. “Dan Cox: Too close to Trump, too conservative for Maryland,” the narrator intones.

But the end goal of the ad is not to sink Cox. Instead, Democrats are hoping to boost him in the July 19 Republican primary for governor, which has turned into a tight battle for the nomination with former state Commerce Secretary Kelly Schulz — term-limited GOP Gov. Larry Hogan’s preferred successor.

It is the latest iteration of a now increasingly common playbook for Democrats. In a handful of blue states — and especially in governor races — Democratic groups and campaigns have run ads boosting the more extreme Republican candidate in a primary, in hopes that they win the nomination and will be easier to beat in the general election in November.