MOORE’s BALANCING ACT: LONG TERM VISION VS. IMMEDIATE PROBLEMS: As Wes Moore prepared to mark his six months as governor, he gave news interviews discussing his successes so far and his vision for the future. He was Time magazine’s person of the week and recorded a podcast about patriotism for the occasion. Now Moore finds himself balancing both his broad, long-term vision of success and the immediate threat of gun violence in which children are increasingly both the victims and the perpetrators. Pamela Wood/The Baltimore Banner.
MOORE TAPS NEW MEMBERS OF HIGHER ED COMMISSION: Gov. Wes Moore (D) announced Monday the appointments of former college presidents, educators and nonprofit leaders to the state’s Higher Education Commission, nearly turning over the entire membership of the panel that oversees statewide higher education policies. William Ford/Maryland Matters.
NEW CANNABIS OFFICE, PANEL: Gov. Wes Moore (D) on Monday announced nearly a dozen appointments to two new cannabis-related entities, just after adult-use sales became legal in the state. The governor appointed Audrey L. Johnson as acting executive director of the Office of Social Equity and named nine members of the Cannabis Public Health Advisory Council. Bryan Sears/Maryland Matters.
ALSOBROOKS RAISES MOST IN SENATE RACE; TRONE LOANS SELF MOST: Of the declared Democrats for U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin’s Senate seat, Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks raised the most money in donations — $1.73 million — since the May 1 announcement that Cardin would not run again. However, U.S. Rep. David Trone, founder of Total Wine & More, has more cash on hand after he loaned himself nearly $10 million, which is likely only the first round of personal cash he sends to his campaign. Pamela Wood/The Baltimore Banner.
DEL. VOGEL LEADS IN 6th DISTRICT FUND-RAISING: Since joining the race for the 6th District congressional seat, Del. Joe Vogel (D-Dist. 17) has raised almost double the amount of campaign donations of his leading Republican opponent and over double the amount of his closest Democratic competitor. Em Espey/MoCo 360.
HAGERSTOWN MAYOR TO SEEK TRONE’s HOUSE SEAT: Hagerstown Mayor Tekesha Martinez (D) is running for the Maryland 6th Congressional District after its current representative, Democrat David Trone, said he would be running for U.S. Senate in a bid to succeed Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.). Ginny Bixby/MoCo 360.
FOCUSED ON FUNDAMENTALS: HOW MOORE BECAME GOVERNOR: How did Wes Moore successfully make the jump to the governor’s mansion and possible run for president from political outsider? “He put together an expert campaign team that focused on the fundamentals that it takes to win elections — and that core fundamental is raising money,” said Goucher College political science professor Mileah Kromer. “The first big stories that came about Moore when the campaign season heated up were that he was a formidable fundraiser.” Louis Peck in The Almanac of American Politics/Maryland Matters.
MARYLAND A MICROCOSM OF TRENDS SHAPING DEMOCRATIC PARTY: Maryland, one of the nation’s most Democratic states, serves as a microcosm of the trends shaping today’s Democratic Party: continuing lopsided support in ethnically and racially diverse urban areas, growing Democratic success with affluent, suburban voters and government employees, and a waning of the party’s influence in rural areas. Louis Jacobson in The Almanac of American Politics/Maryland Matters.
MARYLAND CONGRESSMEN SEEK TO KEEP GREENPOINT ACCESSIBLE: Maryland’s congressional delegation has stepped into to a contentious fight over the Greenbury Point Conservation Area, a 231-acre penisula that extends out into the Severn north of Annapolis. Language in the U.S. Senate version of the annual defense spending bill would prevent the U.S. Navy from modifying or restricting public access to the popular conservation area without an act of Congress. U.S. Sens. Chris Van Hollen and Ben Cardin and Rep. John P. Sarbanes, all Democrats, have issued a joint release showing solidarity for Greenbury Point. Rebecca Ritzel/The Capital Gazette.
MOORES SELL B’MORE HOME: The first family’s Baltimore home is off the market. Gov. Wes Moore and wife Dawn Flythe Moore sold their nearly 8,000-square-foot mansion in Baltimore’s Guilford neighborhood last week for a reported $2.5 million. Pamela Wood/The Baltimore Banner.
- The six-bedroom, six-bathroom mansion overlooking Sherwood Gardens had been on the market for almost five months and was originally listed at $2,750,000. Sam Janesch/The Baltimore Sun.
B’MORE HOUSING AGENCY HEAD DEFIANT: Among the agency heads who came before a Baltimore City Council committee in the aftermath of a block party that exploded into the worst mass shooting in Baltimore’s recent history, Janet Abrahams stood out. Police leaders struck a tone of contrition, taking responsibility for their failure to learn about Brooklyn Day in advance and respond despite clear signs of trouble. But Abrahams, who heads the federally-funded public housing agency in control of Brooklyn Homes where the July 2 shootout occurred, appeared defiant and largely blamed residents. Fern Shen/Baltimore Brew.
