Wes Moore, a famous author and former nonprofit executive who campaigned as a political outsider, has won the Democratic primary for governor of Maryland.
TK days after the vote ended, The Associated Press declared Mr Moore the winner over Tom Perez, a former labor secretary and Democratic National Committee chairman; Peter Franchot, the State Comptroller; and six other candidates.
Mr. Moore, a bestselling author who hosted a show on Oprah Winfrey’s cable network for a while, set himself up as a dynamic newcomer in a race in which his greatest rivals were all veterans of Maryland or national politics. In addition to an endorsement from Ms. Winfrey, he had the support of Democratic leaders from both chambers of the Maryland legislature and three members of the state’s congressional delegation — a strong achievement for a first-time candidate.
Moore, who would become Maryland’s first black governor if he wins, will be a firm favorite in the general election against Dan Cox, a Republican state legislator backed by former President Donald J. Trump. Mr. Cox has reinforced a string of election conspiracy theories, and during the January 6, 2021 Capitol attack, he called Vice President Mike Pence “a traitor.”
Democrats are trying to retake the Maryland governor’s office after eight years of it being occupied by Governor Larry Hogan, a moderate Republican who is one of the country’s most popular governors.
Mr Hogan, who supported Mr Cox’s rival in the GOP primaries, has been banned by state law from seeking a third term. Despite his popularity, he was unable to turn his support over to Kelly Schulz, a longtime ally who served in his cabinet for seven years. Mr Hogan said on Wednesday that he would not support Mr Cox.
Maryland’s Democratic primary for governor results, along with a number of other key races, were delayed because state law prohibits ballots returned through the mail or in drop boxes from being counted two days after election day.
On Thursday, election officials across the state met to begin the arduous process of inspecting and opening ballots in the absence, allowing campaigners to review the ballots that raised questions, and run the ballots through voting machines.
More than 182,000 Democratic ballots had been returned by Wednesday, according to Maryland’s State Board of Elections. Another 189,000 ballots sent to Democratic voters have not yet been returned; ballots count if they are stamped on Election Day and received on July 29.
Mr Moore won the primaries despite questions about the veracity of the biography he presented. He’s not from Baltimore, as he claimed, and his tenure as a New York nonprofit manager was marked by an episode in which his assistant was fired after a dispute over overtime pay for personal work she did for Mr. Moore.
Unlike many recent Democratic primaries, the party race for Maryland’s governor did not spark sharp ideological differences between the candidates. Instead, the race focused on which candidate could build coalitions across ideologies.