Wes Moore is combat veteran and author who ran to replace Maryland’s popular, term-limited Republican Governor Larry Hogan. Moore won by 30 points.
“Everybody in the state needs to understand that we are going to focus on economics. That this is about how we are going to focus on pathways to work, wages, and wealth. For all Marylanders, and not just some,” Moore said.
Maryland’s minimum wage is set to increase to $15 an hour by 2025. Moore says he’ll make that adjustment happen sooner, in 2023, and look for ways to continue raising the minimum wage with inflation and the cost of living.
Moore’s plan to address the economy also involves investing in childhood education. He says he will expand free pre-K programs more quickly than the 10-year timeline that is already in place.
Additionally, Moore supports making abortion a constitutional right, after the state’s general assembly passed legislation expanding access to it.
Moore faced some controversy during the campaign when his Republican competitor accused him of mischaracterizing part of his life in his memoir, parts of which allude to a childhood in Baltimore. In reality, Moore was born in Takoma Park, Maryland and raised in the Bronx, New York. Moore said the confusion stemmed from a publisher mistake that was later corrected.
With a platform focused on Maryland’s economy, he will have to find room to address rising crime levels in the state. His strategy so far includes banning ghost guns, and funding for violence intervention and community policing programs.
