Wes Moore will become Maryland's first Black governor, reclaiming the office from the GOP in a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans 2-1.
Moore, an author and nonprofit executive who was backed by former President Barack Obama, Oprah Winfrey and others, had held double-digit poll leads over his Republican opponent, state Del. Dan Cox, who was supported by former President Donald Trump.
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A victory for Moore flips the governor's office back to blue in a state where Democratic governors have long reigned — not including the past eight years. The current governor, Larry Hogan, will see his time in the role come to an end due to a two-term limit. When first elected in 2014, he became just the second Republican governor of the state in half a century.
Election Results 2022
Source: Associated Press.
Amy O'Kruk/NBC
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On Tuesday night, Moore and running mate Aruna Miller addressed a crowd of more than 1,000 supporters in downtown Baltimore, according to his campaign.
"When our days are dominated by cynicism and mistrust, at a time when those of you and, frankly, those of us who hope to be part of the solution are often told to wait our turn. But you believed," Moore said to the crowd of supporters. "You believed that in this moment our state would not wait its turn, and you believed in the son of an immigrant."
"Maryland ... you showed that if we stand divided, we cannot win — but if we stand united, we cannot lose," Moore said. "When I was an Army captain and led soldiers into combat in Afghanistan, we lived by a simple principle: Leave no one behind... Real patriotism means bringing people together. It means lifting each other up and improving each other’s lives. Patriotism means knowing that our country is great — and that if we do the work, it will be even greater. Tonight we celebrate, and tomorrow we get to work."
Cox said while it wasn't looking good for his campaign, it was still possible he could pull it off with 50 percent of the votes left to count.
Wes Moore to Become Maryland's First Black Governor
Moore, a 44-year-old combat veteran, Rhodes scholar, author and former CEO of an anti-poverty nonprofit, ran on a "leave no one behind" slogan. He’s promised to maintain funding for the K-12 education plan with sweeping equity goals known as the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, and build on other initiatives to create equal opportunity for Maryland residents, Brian Witte of the AP reported.
“This can be Maryland’s moment,” Moore said in his only televised debate against Cox. “We have amazing people and incredible potential, but not everybody’s in a position to succeed.”
While Moore will make history as Maryland's Black governor, there's at least one more first ahead, too: His running mate, Aruna Miller, is the first Indian-American candidate and the first immigrant elected to statewide office. If Anthony Brown also claims victory, he would be the state’s first Black Attorney General.
With these wins, Black politicians will hold many of the top state offices in Maryland, which is now a majority-minority state, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Cox and Moore clashed sharply during the campaign, differences that were highlighted during their debate in October, an hourlong showdown that included frequent attacks on credibility.
Moore described Cox as “dangerous” for denying the results of the 2020 presidential election, while Cox said Moore was a “phony."
During the debate, a panelist asked Cox whether he would accept the outcome of the gubernatorial election, noting that he had attended the “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6, 2021.
Cox said he has “always accepted election results that are fair” but stopped short of saying he would definitely accept the 2022 election outcome. “At this point, it would be similar to saying that before a surgery takes place to decide whether or not the surgery went well," he said.
Moore said he would honor the results of the election in a state that has free, fair and transparent elections, and he criticized Cox for denying the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.
Cox, a Trump-backed candidate who organized buses to D.C. on Jan. 6, 2021 and called former Vice President Mike Pence a “traitor” that day in a tweet he later deleted, got help from Democrats in the primary as they looked to boost him over a stronger Republican candidate. And Moore had some controversy with a book he wrote, "The Other Wes Moore," after questions were raised about whether he misled the public about his background to sell books.
Republican voters who supported Cox said Trump's endorsement of the candidate was significant to them.
“Quite frankly, he’s a MAGA Republican," said John Jacobs, 57, who voted for Cox in Annapolis, in a reference to Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan.
While explaining his vote for Cox, Jacobs quickly pivoted to criticizing Hogan, who is weighing a presidential bid — potentially against Trump. “And Larry Hogan, who if my life depended on it I probably wouldn’t vote for him, and I’m a Republican, for president.”
Outgoing Gov. Hogan, a moderate Republican, did not support Cox's candidacy, describing him as a “Q-Anon” whack job."
He blamed the Democratic Governors Association (DGA) and Trump for Cox's victory in the primary over Kelly Schulz, who was a cabinet secretary in Hogan's administration.
The DGA spent large amounts of money on ads that described Cox as “too conservative for Maryland” and highlighted his connections to Trump — ads that may well have bolstered Cox's appeal to GOP primary voters, the AP reported. Hogan called Cox's victory in the primary "a win for the Democrats" because, he said, Cox had no chance of beating Moore in the general election in a state where Democrats have a huge natural advantage.
See more election results for Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia here.
