Wes Moore wins second term as Maryland governor

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore sailed to reelection Tuesday night, with voters sending him back to the State House for another four-year term.

As soon as polls closed at 8 p.m., the Associated Press called the governor’s race for the Democrat over Republican challenger Dan Cox.

A roar went up from the standing-room-only crowd at Moore’s victory party at the M&T Bank Exchange in Baltimore when the result was announced.

An ebullient Moor ascended the stage two hours later, with his wife and children by his side, and grinned as he took the mic.

“What’s going on, Maryland?” he said to cheers. “Aw, this is a party!”

He was interrupted by chants of “four more years!” before he could begin his speech.

Moore said he rejects “the false choices that make our politics a zero-sum game, where the same people always are left with a zero.”

He recounted his four years in office and promised to continue work to reduce violent crime, protect immigrants, improve public schools, fight child poverty and boost the economy.

“We stand here ready to lead Maryland into the future,” Moore said.

The governor also took a victory lap on Question 3, a constitutional amendment that will pave the way for Democrats to redraw congressional district boundaries to favor their party.

Moore had a message for his opponent, too:

“To Dan Cox: We just want to say that we wish you and your family the best in your future endeavors,” Moore said.

At Cox’s party in Towson, the Republican said at 10 p.m. that he had no plans to concede yet.

“It’s gonna be a good night,” he told The Banner. “Let’s let the voters’ voices count.”

The race was a rematch from four years ago. Moore again appears to have won handily, even as counting continues with provisional and mail ballots.

The nation’s only Black governor for the past four years and a rising star in the Democratic Party, Moore spent time this summer campaigning for four other Black Democratic gubernatorial hopefuls.

In his second term, Moore will continue leading Maryland as it faces a severe budget gap and challenges that include rebuilding Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, a project already far behind schedule and billions of dollars above its initial projected cost.

Moore acknowledged the challenges ahead during an interview at his South Baltimore campaign office in October. He said he wants to continue the reduction in violent crime, as well as push to transform the state’s economy, which has long been reliant on federal jobs and federal spending.

“The thing that I’m excited about is we have more work to do, and we just have unfinished business,” Moore said.

Moore will steer the state while fielding questions about his national ambitions. At the only gubernatorial debate this fall, Moore did not commit to serving a full four-year term, though he has said he is focused on being governor.

“Being the governor of Maryland has been the honor of a lifetime,” he said, “and I would not be running for reelection if I was not committed to the people of Maryland.”

Cox seized on the roundabout answer.

“This governor will not look you in the eyes and commit to not running for president,” Cox said.

Cox tried to score points on Moore’s weaknesses, including higher taxes and fees and slow progress on rebuilding the Key Bridge, which collapsed after a cargo ship strike in 2024.

“Maryland should be the Free State, not the ‘fee state’” Cox said during a stop in Baltimore on Friday.

Cox cast his ballot Tuesday morning at Sabillasville Environmental School in Frederick County; Moore voted during early voting in Annapolis in October.

“I think people want to make sure that we’re focusing on affordability and bringing prices down,” Moore said as he and other Democrats campaigned Tuesday at the Laurel-Beltsville Activity Center. “We want to make life a little bit easier on the people of Maryland.”

In the final weeks of the race, Moore shifted his campaign spending away from his own ads and instead funded ads promoting Question 3. If that ballot measure passes, it would change redistricting rules in a way that could expand Democrats’ ability to gerrymander congressional districts.

Cox criticized Moore’s support for congressional redistricting, which several polls showed to be unpopular across the state.

With no need to shore up his base in Democratic-dominated Central Maryland, Moore spent time in the closing week on the campaign trail in rural, largely Republican areas of the state in hopes of running up the score and wooing more people to his party.

Cox planned to spend Election Day making stops at polling sites, including one alongside Robert Ehrlich Jr., Maryland’s Republican governor from 2003 to 2007.

Cox was outspent by Moore’s campaign machine and has been unable to escape his past alliances with President Donald Trump, including taking buses to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021, and fundraising at Mar-A-Lago for his last campaign.

Moore’s supporters were in a celebratory mood as results rolled in from around the country showing Democratic victories. Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller, said the nation was experiencing a “blue tsunami” with Democratic wins across the country.

Charles Jones, 70, cast his ballot in Brooklyn for Cox. While he said he wasn’t the biggest supporter of Cox, he felt he was the lesser of two evils.

Jones said he was driven by affordability.

“I voted because they’re handling the money wrong. It’s not about you and me no more,” he said. “Something’s got to get better. It’s unaffordable to live here.”

Francisco Guzman, a 25-year-old voter from Baltimore’s Old Town neighborhood, also considered affordability.

As a man of color with younger brothers, Guzman said he seeks youthful leaders who can better represent his community and be an inspiration. That’s, in part, why he voted for Moore.

Guzman wants Moore to focus on affordability and help people on the lower end of the socioeconomic ladder by addressing rising inflation and utility costs.

The ballot also featured two third-party candidates: Andy Ellis of the Green Party and Cathy White of the Working Class Party.

Banner reporters Hau Chu and Shayla Colon contributed to this article.