Governor’s slate looking for a few Moore Democratic legislators

by Bryan P. Sears, Maryland Matters
November 12, 2025

Maryland’s Democratic governor is looking for a few Moore lawmakers.

Wes Moore, the first-term Democratic governor, announced Wednesday the creation of the “Leave No One Behind” slate. The campaign committee will be focused on backing the governor’s agenda.

“Today we take the first step toward creating a well-funded, well-organized effort to ensure we are electing leaders up and down the ballot dedicated to creating a Maryland that leaves no one behind,” Moore said in a statement. “Together we will create a team I am eager to help elect and work with to carry out the mission we came here to do: make this Maryland’s decade.”

Moore’s press release described the slate as an “initiative geared toward electing leaders up and down the ballot in Maryland’s 2026 Democratic primary and general election cycle.”

Such a campaign slate could be used to back challengers to incumbent Democrats.

It is unclear which races the campaign might focus on.

“After a resounding 2022 victory, the Moore-Miller Campaign knows 2026 is more important than ever and is preparing to invest and organize the best legislative slate possible to ensure victory in November and beyond. In the coming months, the Moore-Miller Campaign will announce endorsements and investments in key primary and general election races across Maryland,” according to the Moore campaign statement.

Moore has suffered a number of policy initiative setbacks, including a nuclear power bill that failed to advance in the Democrat-controlled legislature. He also struggled to get lawmakers to make changes to an increasingly expensive K-12 education reform plan known as the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future.

The governor also saw lawmakers pare down what he considered an ambitious housing and jobs bill in the last legislative session, when his demand for a bill allowing the sale of beer and wine in grocery stores was rebuffed. The bill, sponsored by lawmakers, was not officially part of his legislative agenda, but he gave his support to the legislation, with didn’t get out of committee in the House or Senate.

Additionally, after Moore vetoed legislation this year to create a reparations study commission — a body Moore called redundant — a number of Democratic lawmakers were vocal about their desire to override his veto.

The announcement of the slate also comes as Moore is pushing for the possible redrawing of the state’s eight congressional districts. It faces a tough fight in the Senate, where a majority of Democrats, led by Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City), oppose the midcycle redistricting. Moore would need to convince 24 of the the 34 Democrats in the chamber to break with Ferguson for redistricting to have any hope.

Moore’s efforts are not unique. Other executives have used their position to target legislators.

In 2018, at a time when Gov. Larry Hogan was seeking re-election and an expansion of Republican seats in the Senate, he endorsed the primary opponent of Sen. Steve Waugh, a first-term Southern Maryland Republican who voted to override one of Hogan’s vetoes. Waugh’s vote was unnecessary given the super-majority Democrats enjoyed in the Senate.

Hogan was successful in replacing Waugh with current Sen. Jack Bailey.

Similarly, Democratic Gov. Parris Glendening was known to speak with legislators about issues in his office where they might coincidentally spy maps showing redistricted versions of their districts, some incarnations more advantageous to the legislator than others. But Glendening also had the advantage of being a lame duck in the final months of his term.

Maryland Matters is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Maryland Matters maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Steve Crane for questions: editor@marylandmatters.org.