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The spread of coronavirus across the nation has led to the rise of governors as the state chief executives have been thrust into the forefront of responding to the pandemic.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan has been one of the state leaders who took drastic action early on as COVID-19 cases rose in March, closing all non-essential businesses and schools in his state in the hope of saving "thousands of lives"

"If we don't do something to stop this spike in the curve, the fact is we will not have ICU beds and ventilators," Hogan told "Bill Hemmer Reports." You look at what happened in places like Italy and what is happening in New York. We don't want that to happen in each of our states."

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Here are some things to know about the governor of the Mid-Atlantic state:

Hogan has said to 'follow the doctors and the scientists' to respond to coronavirus

The Republican governor has said while the governors across the country have been on the front lines of the COVID-19 crisis, conflicting messaging from the federal government "isn't helpful."

“We don’t want people to be scared, but we do want them to take it seriously and want, you know, the facts to be out there," Hogan said on "Fox News Sunday." "So we’re going to follow the doctors and the scientists.”

Hogan's comments came after President Trump originally looked to open the country by Easter before extending social-distancing guidelines to April 30. He appeared on Fox News as Maryland saw a sharp rise in the number of people infected by the coronavirus, including 77 residents at a nursing home.

The Maryland governor has warned that “Maryland is going to look more like New York" in a matter of weeks, referring to the epicenter of the coronavirus crisis.

MARYLAND GOVERNOR SAYS STATE, D.C. AREA LOOKS LIKE NEW YORK DID A FEW WEEKS AGO

He's a Republican governor who was easily swept to reelection in a blue state, has criticized Trump before

Hogan is the founder of The Hogan Companies, which specializes in real estate brokerage, investment, and development. He then had unsuccessfully run for congress in 1981 and 1992.

He took a leave of absence from the private sector from 2003 to 2007 to serve in the cabinet of former Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich, a Republican, as Secretary of Appointments.

In 2011, Hogan founded a nonprofit political group called Change Maryland, which described itself as a "campaign fighting to bring fiscal restraint and common sense to Annapolis."

In 2014, Hogan became only the second Republican governor elected in Maryland in 50 years.

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He was sworn in as Maryland’s 62nd governor on January 21, 2015, after defeating Democratic nominee and incumbent lieutenant governor, Anthony G. Brown.

He then followed up his first term to be overwhelmingly re-elected in 2018 in the reliably blue state of Maryland. On July 26, 2019, he was appointed chair of the National Governors Association.

Just because they are in the same political party does not mean Hogan has not held back criticism of President Trump.

During the President Trump-Elijah Cummings feud in 2019, Hogan told WBAL radio that the president's comments were "outrageous and inappropriate." He also said that Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia Investigation report had "very disturbing stuff" inside.

Hogan also was floated as a possible 2020 challenger to Trump, before rejecting any plans to run.

He's a cancer survivor

In 2015, Hogan was diagnosed with aggressive Stage 3 non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Over the next five months, he underwent 30 days of aggressive, 24-hour chemotherapy, multiple surgeries, spinal taps, scans, drug therapies, and other procedures.

On November 16, 2015, he announced that he was 100 percent cancer-free and was in complete remission.

In February 2018, the Maryland governor announced that he was undergoing treatment for a "non-serious" skin cancer.

"I spent a lot of time baking in the sun," Hogan said. "My advice to everyone out there listening is to please pay attention when they tell you to wear sunscreen."

His father was first Republican on House Judiciary Committee to openly advocate for the impeachment of President Nixon

The governor's father, Lawrence J. Hogan Sr., represented Maryland in the U.S. House of Representatives as a Republican from January 1969 to January 1975.

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In 1974, former Rep. Hogan Sr. was the first Republican on the House Judiciary Committee to openly advocate for the impeachment of President Nixon, a fellow Republican he had previously supported.

He died in April 2017 at the age of 88, according to the Baltimore Sun.

Fox News' Andrew' O'Reilly, Paul Steinhauser, Yael Halon, and the Associated Press contributed to this report.