Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said he believes Democratic Party voters are looking for candidates who would challenge the status quo when meeting with community members Monday afternoon on the eastside of Detroit.
Moore came to the state to stump for Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s campaign for governor, which is beginning a statewide tour as she competes to win the Democratic primary race versus Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson. The mid-Michigan sheriff has been courting former Mayor Mike Duggan’s supporters since the independent candidate dropped his bid for governor.
Following a roundtable conversation with Michigan Small Business Alliance CEO Charity Dean and Chris Scott, a member of Benson’s staff on Monday at Morningside Cafe on E. Warren, Moore said he hopes to be back in Michigan to support candidates like Benson.
“I think right now Michigan has a very clear choice when it comes to the governor’s race, and I’m excited to be able to come out and support her and help her however I can,” Moore told reporters.
Moore said Benson would fight for affordability and for creating pathways to wealth for everyone. He said he spoke to Benson about closing the racial wealth in Selma, Alabama during the latest annual march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. He said he got into politics to end child poverty.
Scott said Benson has started to talk more about how to build generational wealth that hasn’t been accessible.
“What does it take to intentionally build a more inclusive business environment?” Scott said.
The Maryland governor, the third Black governor in U.S. history and the lone Black governor in the U.S. currently, is considered by politicos as a potential presidential candidate in 2028.
“I know I’m the only Black governor in the country right now, but frankly that’s a title that I hope not to hold onto for very long,” Moore said. He mentioned strong Black candidates running for statewide positions, including Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist, who is running to replace Benson as Secretary of State.
“I’m humbled to be the first Black governor in Maryland’s history, it’s also an indictment that the progress has not happened fast enough, and so I think the thing we’ve got to make sure we’re focusing on is we are creating pipelines that we’re lifting up really strong candidates who understand and can meet the moment, but who understand that making history — while I’m humbled by the fact that we were able to — wasn’t the assignment.”
He didn’t answer whether he was running for president when asked by a Detroit News reporter on Monday.
Moore did offer some of his own perspective on the challenges facing the future of the Democratic Party.
He said his Leave No One Behind slate in Maryland helped elect Democrats of different ideologies. Moore announced last year he would support a slate of primary candidates in an effort to flip and compete in Maryland’s traditionally red legislative districts.
“There wasn’t an ideological or political prerequisite —we invested in a progressive lawmaker in Montgomery County and we supported a prosecutor in Baltimore County,” Moore said. “There wasn’t an ideological bend that made a person want to support somebody. It was, are you prepared to come in and disrupt the status quo? Are you prepared to go in and say that things have not worked for people, and we need leadesr that can actually help life be better for people.”
Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin last week drew criticism from the Congressional Black Caucus after saying people need “action, not words” from Democrats, criticizing the approach of some in the progressive wing of the party.
“I have done as much as I feel like I’m capable of doing to respond in words to what Trump is doing, but I can’t just be an activist,” she said.
CBC Chair Yvette D. Clarke (D-N.Y.) and former chairs, Reps. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.) and Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), issued a joint statement rejecting Slotkin’s comments:
“The Congressional Black Caucus and House Democrats are united behind Leader Jeffries and remain focused on lowering costs for working families, defending our democracy, protecting fundamental rights, and taking back the House majority this November — not engaging in distractions that only serve to divide Democrats at a moment when unity and resolve are essential.”
Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, viewed as a leader of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, also criticized Slotkin’s comments.
“Not everyone talking about change is talking about the same thing,” Ocasio-Cortez said on MS Now. “When I talk about change, I talk about orienting the Dem Party to be unabashedly working class… it’s kinda in vogue to be talking about change…we need to ask further questions”
When asked how he navigates the different factions within the party, Moore told the Michigan Chronicle in a phone interview Monday that it’s about leaving no one behind.
“It’s about how exactly can we, you know, how exactly can we, you know, build a society where we leave no one behind, where everyone’s voice is going to matter, where everyone’s dignity is going to be respected, and where everyone understands that their future should be protected. That’s the kind of leader that I’m looking for, and it’s one of the reasons I’m excited to be here in Michigan, because I think there is a lot of people doing that, including Secretary of State Benson, including Lt. Gov. Gilchrist.”
Consultant Elizabeth Mays, who owns a multimedia company, was present during the roundtable discussion Monday told Michigan Chronicle. She said she hopes Benson’s administration if elected will support families.
“When you start with the family, everything else works,” Mays said.
