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The Associated Press predicts Wes Moore, a best-selling author who has garnered high-profile political and celebrity endorsements, will win the Democratic nomination for Maryland governor, setting up a battle between a state lawmaker who rallied the Make America Great base Again and a charismatic political newcomer who, if elected, would be the state’s first black chief executive.
Moore beat two Obama cabinet secretaries and two other candidates with multiple statewide wins to emerge from a crowded Democratic field.
About two out of three Democrats chose someone else, and Moore will have to win them over. In November, Moore is set to face Dan Cox, a freshman lawmaker backed by Donald Trump who claims the 2020 presidential election was “stolen,” as he aims to return the governor’s mansion to Democrats after two terms under Governor Larry Hogan. (R).
If elected in November, Moore, 43, a former nonprofit chief, would become only the third black governor elected in the nation’s history. He galvanized the party’s base in the East Coast’s most diverse state with a message of fairness and opportunity for all.
“I know a lot of people thought this was an unlikely journey, but the reality is this … that our lives, for many of us, have been an unlikely journey,” Moore told a cheering crowd of supporters from various ages and races Tuesday afternoon in Baltimore as returns showed him leading the 10-man race. “I was almost 4 years old when my father died in front of me because he didn’t get the health care he needed. … So much about all our journeys is improbable. “
by Moore The lead consolidated after election officials across the state began counting the hundreds of thousands of mail-in ballots, lifted by former U.S. Labor Secretary Tom Perez, Comptroller Peter Franchot, the former US Secretary of Education John B. King Jr., former Attorney General Douglas Gansler, and others.
Republicans are likely to take advantage of questions raised by rivals during the Democratic campaign that Moore did not do enough to correct misperceptions about his compelling personal history.
In the end, the contest became a two-man race between Moore and Perez.
2022 Maryland Primary Election Results
While others had more experience, more labor support or stronger support from liberal groups, Moore had a bigger war chest, a coveted endorsement from the state’s powerful teachers union and the backing of nearly every top elected official state democrats.
Mileah Kromer, a professor of political science at Goucher College, said there is an “almost impossible path” to victory for Cox, who called Vice President Mike Pence a “traitor” on Jan. 6, 2021, on Twitter ( later expressed regret for his choice of words) — in a state where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans 2 to 1. Kromer, who conducts polls, said none of Goucher’s polls show Trump as a popular among Democrats or independents in Maryland.
Kromer said Moore’s ability to raise money and build a coalition makes him “unbelievably formidable. He would have been formidable even against Kelly Schulz,” a former member of Hogan’s cabinet who was endorsed by the governor and defeated by Cox .
Moore’s supporters include Maryland insiders like Rep. Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) and Speaker of the House Adrienne A. Jones (D-Baltimore County), and foreign tycoons like Spike Lee and Oprah Winfrey, who they became friends with Moore a decade ago. after the publication of his book “The Other Wes Moore”. Winfrey, who recorded radio and television ads for Moore, was the special guest during a virtual fundraiser that brought in more than $100,000 in the final weeks of the campaign.
The historical perspective of Moore’s candidacy carries a shadow and a challenge: Only recently have Democrats nominated black candidates for governor, and the last two have failed to win the office despite capturing more electorates.
Moore is the third black candidate to win the Democratic nomination in the last three election cycles. Former Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown lost to Hogan in 2014, and in his bid for re-election, Hogan defeated former NAACP President Ben Jealous in 2018.
This spring, a prolific Democratic donor and state party official questioned the eligibility of black candidates for governor. In an email sent to party members to drum up support for Perez, Barbara Goldberg Goldman, then the state party’s deputy treasurer, wrote: “Think about this: Three African-American men have run for governor statewide and they’ve lost. Maryland is not a blue state. It’s a purple state. That’s a fact we shouldn’t ignore.”
Goldberg Goldman resigned after the email became public.
Jealous has scoffed at the notion that black candidates can’t win statewide in Maryland. Jealous won more than 1 million votes in his unsuccessful bid, a number that likely would have resulted in a victory, he said, had his opponent not been a popular incumbent.
After Cox’s victory Tuesday afternoon, the Cook Political Report, which evaluates political races, reclassified the contest from “leaning Democratic” to “solid Democratic.”
“The bottom line is that Republicans might have had a chance, but now this race is off the table,” said Jessica Taylor, Cook’s editor.
Cox prepares for battle. On Thursday, he emailed a letter to supporters with the subject line: “Moore is LESS for Maryland.”
“Our governor refuses to support us, which means that we the people will have to work very hard to ensure that he and his friends do not hand over our state to the hard left,” the email said.
Moore was on his way to decisive victories in Baltimore City and Prince George’s and Baltimore counties, and to come in a distant second in Montgomery County, home to four of the top contenders.
During his yearlong campaign, Moore, a Rhodes Scholar, combat veteran and former investment banker, often talked about his upbringing and the opportunities he was afforded, which informed “The other Wes Moore,” the book that launched his national profile.
Along the way, he had to fend off accusations that he exaggerated his biography and failed to correct details about his life. An anonymous political dossier emerged in the spring accusing Moore of falsely suggesting he was born in Baltimore and embellishing the hardships he and his mother faced during his childhood.
Various published articles and interviewers over the years repeated incorrect details about Moore that went uncorrected for years. Moore denied he ever misrepresented himself and in an interview accused his opponents of inflaming the issue to block his promotion.
Some Democrats worried that Moore’s past would become ready-made ammunition for Republicans to use in a general election, destroying the party’s chances of winning.
Despite the questions, Moore’s candidacy continued to gain momentum with additional endorsements from elected officials and more money in their coffers.
Susie Turnbull, who was Jealous’ running mate for governor in 2018 and campaigned for Moore, summed up Moore’s appeal:
“In 2000, the question was: ‘Who do you want to have a beer with?’ ” she said. Now, “After everything we’ve all been through, it’s, ‘Who do you want to hug you?’ “
Eva Herskowitz contributed to this report.