When Wes Moore raises his right hand and promises to uphold the laws of the state on Wednesday, he’ll be just the fifth Black man to do so in the history of this nation, and the first ever in the state of Maryland.
Moore, a 44-year-old Democrat, comes to the job of governor of Maryland with high expectations, both from himself and from national Democrats who are looking for a new generation of leadership.
He’ll swear the oath of office with his left hand resting on a Bible that once belonged to abolitionist and Marylander Frederick Douglass, on the steps of the State House that may have been built with labor from people who were enslaved.
The significance of the moment is not lost on Moore, who has pledged to build a government that reflects the diversity of the state.
He says, however, that he didn’t run for office to make history. Rather, he wants to make a difference.
On the campaign trail, on his way to a resounding defeat of Republican nominee Dan Cox, Moore made broad promises to “leave no one behind” and to offer equitable opportunities for “work, wages and wealth.”
“We plan on using every single tool within the governor’s reach and within the government’s reach to be able to better serve the people of this state,” Moore said in an interview with The Baltimore Banner ahead of his inauguration.
But Moore has not offered specifics about which of his campaign promises he’ll pursue first once in office or what his priority requests will be to state lawmakers who just began their annual legislative session.
Only in the past week has Moore begun to announce many of the members of his team who will run the state government, a vast organization with tens of thousands of employees and an annual budget of more than $50 billion. Moore’s pace of hiring and announcing priorities has been much slower than recent governors’, including outgoing Republican Gov. Larry Hogan.
“There’s only one governor at a time,” Moore said.
Moore has promised that more specifics will be unveiled after he officially becomes governor. In a public interview last week, when pressed for specifics, he said at least four times that he’ll have more to say this week.
“We’re gonna move aggressively. We’re gonna move thoughtfully. But we plan on actually addressing some of these larger challenges that families continue to face,” Moore told The Banner earlier this month.
Thousands of people are expected to flock to Annapolis to witness the swearing in of Moore and his lieutenant governor-elect, Aruna Miller, a former state lawmaker who will be the first woman of color and first immigrant to hold the second-highest position in state government.
The official oath of office will be administered by Supreme Court of Maryland Chief Justice Matthew Fader in an invitation-only ceremony at noon in the Senate chambers.
Then a public ceremony will follow on a stage built on the steps of the State House, overlooking Lawyers Mall, where thousands will be gathered. Fader will re-enact the oath of office with Moore and Miller.
There will be speeches, musical performances and cannon fire to mark the occasion. The events will be broadcast on Maryland Public Television.
The weather is expected to be unseasonably warm for January, with a high in the mid-50s forecast in Annapolis and no rain or snow expected. (For Hogan’s first inauguration in 2015, it snowed, and his second inauguration in 2019 was a brisk 39 degrees.)
Moore and Miller will greet well-wishers in a receiving line in the State House rotunda; then the festivities will continue in the evening at a gala at the Baltimore Convention Center dubbed “The People’s Ball.” Guests who bought tickets are invited to wear “celebratory chic” attire and will be served crab cakes and mini slices of Smith Island cake. The entertainment will include locally and nationally famous DJs and Grammy Award-winning soul musician Maxwell.
After the partying is done, Moore and Miller will get to work. And they’ve got their work cut out for them.
Moore is promising policy announcements on Thursday, and then on Friday he’s required to submit a budget proposal to the Maryland General Assembly. His picks for Cabinet secretaries will be scheduled for interviews with the state Senate, which will take confirmation votes on them in the coming weeks.
Moore is expected to make a decision on whether to release millions of dollars set aside to train medical providers in abortion care. Lawmakers put the money in the budget last year, but Hogan was not required to release it and did not.
Moore twice pledged to release the money in The Baltimore Banner’s candidate questionnaires last year, but more recently has been non-committal in interviews and public appearances.
And as Moore finishes building out his core team of Cabinet secretaries — he’s filled more than half of about two dozen positions — he also intends to get to work “rebuilding” state government.
There are thousands of state government jobs that are unfilled — by some accounts, nearly 10,000 — due to a combination of difficulty in recruiting people to work and Hogan’s purposely leaving positions open.
Moore said he’d “want to get close to essentially halving that number” by a year from now. He’s pledging to work with House of Delegates Speaker Adrienne A. Jones and Senate President Bill Ferguson on the issue.
“The Moore administration has an incredible opportunity, because they have money and there are huge voids — just deserts in some of these departments,” said Patrick Moran, president of AFSCME Maryland Council 3, the largest union for state workers. “The morale is incredibly low, the resources are practically nonexistent.”
Moran said the staffing situation “is a great opportunity for Governor Moore and the speaker and the Senate president to come in and say: ‘We’re going to right this ship.’ ”
Moore comes to the job and its challenges with no experience in governing, having spent his career in various positions in the military, private businesses and with a large nonprofit organization. He spent one year as a White House fellow at the U.S. Department of State when he was in his 20s.
But he has advantages: a state budget that’s flush with cash and members of his own party leading the state legislature who want to see him succeed.
Jones, the House speaker, said she’s thrilled to have a partner in the governor’s office after eight years of Hogan, who rarely worked with the legislature. Jones, a Baltimore County Democrat, was an early endorser of Moore’s campaign.
“I find it rewarding that we will have a governor that will communicate,” Jones said.
Republicans in Annapolis, who are badly outnumbered, are taking a wait-and-see approach to Moore. They’re hopeful to find at least some common ground with the new governor.
“I’m still very optimistic,” said Sen. Stephen Hershey, the Republican minority leader in the state Senate. “I spoke with Gov.-elect Moore a number of times on some issues, and I think we’re going to see a fairly moderate approach to his governing.”
“I understand as the governor, he has his priorities and the prerogative to go forward with those things,” Hershey continued. “We’re certainly going to be helpful and participate and work together if it’s possible.”
For his part, Moore says he’s ready for the challenge of governing: “This is going to be the most talented, the most hard-charging, the most accountable administration that the state has seen.”
