Maryland Gov. Wes Moore is expected to coast to reelection on Tuesday, saying he wants another term to continue his efforts to make the state safer, more consumer-friendly and less dependent on the federal government.
Moore, a rising star in the Democratic Party, faces Dan Cox, a former Republican lawmaker who lost by more than 30 points the last election. The only nonpartisan poll released in the race showed Moore ahead by nearly that much this time around.
The nation’s only Black governor for the past four years, Moore spent time this summer campaigning for four other Black Democratic gubernatorial hopefuls.
If reelected, Moore would 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.
He’d also 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.
Both candidates planned a series of Election Day visits to polls.
Republican candidate for governor Dan Cox, far right, casts his ballot at Sabillasville Environmental School on Election Day morning. (Kaitlin Newman/The Banner)
U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, left, and Gov. Wes Moore talk as they arrive for a campaign stop at Takoma Park Middle School on Election Day. (Jerry Jackson/The Banner)“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.
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.
If Moore is reelected, Guzman wants him 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 features 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.
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