BALTIMORE COUNTY, Md. — Mail-in ballots in Maryland’s primary election continue to be counted. The process could take several more days. Still, Wes Moore, 43, maintains a commanding and growing lead in votes. Both CBS News and the Associated Press on Friday projected Wes Moore has the votes to win the Democratic nomination for Governor.
“I am excited and humbled to say, I am now the Democratic nominee to become Maryland’s next governor,” Moore said to a cheering room.
Moore, along with running mate Aruna Miller and supporters, held a news conference in their Baltimore City field office Saturday.
“We are going to move with a sense of collaboration,” Moore said mapping out a strategy for the general election in November.
Moore and campaign officials credit part of their success to securing influential endorsements across the state including Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks, Prince George’s State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy and The Maryland Education Association.
“I am so proud of Prince Georgians. They have been reliable for many years and will continue that," Angela Alsobrooks, an early supporter of Moore, said.
The win now pits Moore against the presumptive Republican nominee Dan Cox, a Trump endorsed candidate that beat former Commerce Secretary Kelly Schulz. With less than four months until the general election, the Moore campaign is focusing on unifying the democratic party after a long primary season delayed by two weeks because of redistricting.
“This is serious. We have to be clear about who our opponent is,” Moore said, emphasizing how his campaign planned to engage every voter in the state; not underestimating Cox or his supporters.
Nine democratic candidates competed in the primary election, including former DNC Chairman Tom Perez and current State Comptroller Peter Franchot. Moore, Perez and Franchot held leading positions throughout much of the campaign and polling leading up to the primary showed a tight race within the margin of error.
“We have good relations with the other folks who have run for governor. And we are going to move in partnership with them, “ Moore said. “Each and every one of them have sacrificed so much with a unified goal. And the unified goal was that it was not just that we were going to advance the issues that so many of us believe in deeply, but also we were going to have a Democrat return the state house in Annapolis.”