'Nightmare for Maryland Republicans' as Trump-loving lawmaker who called Pence a 'traitor' may run for governor

A Trump-loving Maryland state delegate who declared former Vice President Mike Pence a "traitor" is getting ready to cause some headaches for his state's Republican Party.

Maryland Matters reports that Del. Dan Cox established a gubernatorial fundraising committee in the race to succeed current Maryland GOP Gov. Larry Hogan, although he has not formally announced a bid for the governorship yet.

However, St. Mary's College of Maryland political science professor Todd Eberly tells Maryland Matters that the state's Republican Party has to be dreading a Cox campaign.

"It's a nightmare for Maryland Republicans," he said. "Instead of a party unified behind Kelly Schulz, you'd have a primary that pits the establishment, or Hogan, wing of the party against the Trump wing."

In addition to accusing Pence of treason for refusing to steal the election for Trump, Cox also organized "a caravan of three buses for constituents to attend the Million MAGA March protest held in downtown Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, the day Congress met to certify the 2020 election," writes Maryland Matters.

The website adds that Cox has drawn the ire of Hogan, the popular two-term GOP governor of a deep-blue state.

"He called me a Communist Chinese spy for China," Hogan said of Cox earlier this year. "He called the vice president a traitor. He was down there gathering people at the Capitol. I don't even know what makes him think this way."