Maryland voters have elected a new governor. Democratic candidate Wes Moore defeated Republican Dan Cox, flipping the state for Democrats. Moore’s victory was expected in deep blue Maryland, where popular GOP Gov. Larry Hogan was term-limited from running again.
Moore is a Rhodes scholar, retired Army captain and combat veteran. He is also the first Black governor in Maryland’s history. He won a tightly contested primary against other big names in the state, including former Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez.
Cox was at a disadvantage from the beginning. Democrats outnumber Republicans in Maryland by a 2-to-1 margin. In addition, Gov. Hogan would not support Cox, who is an attorney and member of the Maryland House of Delegates. Hogan described Cox as a “Q-Anon whack job.”
In an interview with The Guardian in October, Moore said a poll that showed him up by more than 30 points was an indication that he was receiving support from Democrats, independents and Republicans.
“I think you’re seeing how the state…is rallying behind that idea that we can go further together, that people are tired and exhausted, frankly, of being at each other’s throats, that we are going to build a new type of coalition inside the state that incorporates people from a variety of political parties,” Moore told the publication.
Moore tried to set himself apart from the fiscal policy of progressive lawmakers like Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. He said as someone who worked on Wall Street and started a small business, “It’s a bad stretch to say I’m a socialist or a communist.”
Moore also spoke frequently about his military service and called for Maryland to become the first state in the country to give high school students the option to take a public service year.
Moore’s campaign had one hiccup. In October, it was revealed that he settled a $21,000 water bill that had been outstanding for 18 months. The balance was paid off the day before a news article about the bill was released. A spokesman said the family was disputing the bill but paid it off out of an abundance of caution.
