'This door’s been opening': Moore to become Maryland's first Black governor

Maryland voters selected Wes Mooreas governor on Tuesday, according to reporting from the Associated Press. The state is scheduled to inaugurate the new governor in January.

Moore, a best-selling author in his first run for public office, defeated Republican Dan Cox in a state where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans 2-1. Moore’s victory flips a governor’s office from Republican to Democratic.

With the slogan “leave no one behind,” the former combat veteran and former CEO of one of the nation’s largest anti-poverty organizations campaigned on creating equal opportunity for Maryland residents.

“That door has been opening for Wes Moore now for decades,” said Rep. Anthony Brown, the state’s former lieutenant governor from 2007 to 2015, who Republican Gov. Larry Hogan defeated eight years ago.

Moore represents “a different Democrat than we’ve elected in the past,” said Brown, alluding to Moore’s time in the private sector, including as leader of a nonprofit poverty alleviation organization. Like Hogan, Moore never held elected office.

“He’s new. He’s different. He’s refreshing,” said Brown, during an interview at the Prince George’s County Democratic Headquarters on the morning of Election Day. “I’m excited to be able to work with him.”

Brown also won his race, according to the AP. The state has never had an African American Attorney General in its 234 year history.

Maryland’s House Speaker Adrienne Jones became the state’s first female and first Black House Speaker in 2019. Brown cited Jones, former Maryland congressmen Parren Mitchell and Elijah Cummings, as well as 2018 Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ben Jealous, a former president of the NAACP, as individuals who played a part in opening the way for Moore.

“This door’s been opening and has been pushed open by many people,” Brown said.

Cox does not concede on election night, says it's 'not looking good'

Republican candidate for governor Del. Dan Cox did not concede in an 11 p.m. speech despite the Associated Press calling the race in Wes Moore’s favor hours earlier.

“I'm not gonna lie to you, this is a difficult race,” said Cox, to supporters gathered in an Annapolis hotel ballroom. “We're not doing as well as I had hoped in places like Baltimore County.”

Cox told those on hand: “It’s not looking good, but I can tell you this, only 50 percent of the vote is counted.”

He said didn’t want to give them “false hopes” to stay for the rest of the night. A two man security team told reporters after the speech there would be no press availability for Cox on election night.

Four Cox supporters, two wearing Cox t-shirts, left the hotel a few minutes before 11:15. One said, “keep holding on to hope.”

In a brief hallway interview outside the Annapolis hotel ballroom where a television showed the race had been called for Moore, the candidate’s dad, Gary Cox, reflected on the reason for his son’s candidacy.

He said his son took “serious” concerns of constitutional overreach during the covid pandemic. In May of 2020, Cox was plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging Governor Larry Hogan's pandemic orders.

July primary to November general

Moore's candidacy came about in a different way. He emerged from a crowded primary of 10 candidates, including two former U.S. cabinet secretaries, the state’s comptroller, and a former state attorney general to win the July election with 32 percent of the vote.

Cox, who arranged for buses to and attended then-President Donald Trump’s Jan. 6 rally in Washington, D.C., before a mob of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol, distanced himself from the violence of the day. But he didn't separate himself from the former president, attending a fundraiser at Trump’s Florida home last month.

In the July gubernatorial primary election, Cox defeated Kelly Schulz, a former secretary of commerce in the Hogan administration, who the current governor endorsed. Only two of the state’s 187 other legislators endorsed Cox in the primary. He received 52 percent of the vote in that contest where less than 30 percent of registered Republicans voted.

Within a week of the primary, Hogan said he would not support Cox. The Republican nominee attempted to impeach Hogan due to his pandemic policies earlier this year. Both candidates made frequent mention of the outgoing governor during their only debate last month.

Trump stayed away from Maryland while President Biden visited the state at least three times since late August, including a rally yesterday with Moore in Prince George's County.

Libertarian David Lashar along with David Harding, of the Working Class Party, and Nancy Wallace, of the Green Party also appeared on the ballot in Maryland. Each received less than 2 percent of the vote, as of 8 a.m. on Nov. 9.

Recreational marijuana passes in Maryland

Maryland voters also approved legalizing recreational marijuana in a constitutional amendment Tuesday, the AP reported. Lawmakers approved legislation this year to take steps to changing the law regarding cannabis, but the General Assembly left matters of licensing and taxes for lawmakers to decide next year. The constitutional amendment defines that recreational marijuana would not be legal until July 2023 for people 21 and over, subject to a requirement that the General Assembly pass legislation in its next session regarding distribution, regulation and taxation of cannabis.

The next governor will face the opposite issue that the nation’s first African American governor L. Douglas Wilder had when he took office in Virginia in 1990. In an Oct. 20 phone interview, Wilder said his state at the time was “broke.”

Maryland has a budget surplus.

“I would say to Mr. Moore,” said Wilder, “and I know my good friend (the nation’s second Black governor, former Massachusetts Governor) Deval Patrick has been talking with him, and I think Deval would say the same thing: ‘Do the job that you’re there to do. Make certain that you continue to have the support of the people.'”

Dwight A. Weingarten is an investigative reporter, covering the Maryland State House and state issues. He can be reached at dweingarten@gannett.com or on Twitter at @DwightWeingart2.

Capital News Service contributed to this story.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Election results: Wes Moore Maryland's first Black governor