Get ready for a rematch.
Dan Cox won the Republican primary for Maryland governor on Tuesday, setting up a rematch with Democratic Gov. Wes Moore in November.
The matchup pits Moore, a rising national star who is considered a 2028 presidential possibility, against a MAGA loyalist whom President Donald Trump endorsed in 2022. Moore trounced Cox that year, 65% to 32%.
The Associated Press called Cox’s primary at about 10:20 p.m., as he held a significant lead over retired banker Ed Hale Sr. in a nine-candidate field.
AP earlier called the Democratic primary for Moore not long after polls closed. He faced a nominal challenge from Montgomery County physician Eric Felber.
“Wow, what a night!” Cox declared to cheers at his election night watch party in Mount Airy, with his running mate Rob Krop by his side.
Cox promised “to renew Maryland to save our beautiful state” and listed an array of faults he sees in Moore’s leadership, from rising energy costs to the yet-to-be-rebuilt Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. He pledged to audit state agencies and slash taxes.
In an interview, Cox said he’s excited for a rematch with Moore, “who now everyone can see has taken our state in the wrong direction.”
Moore, meanwhile, quickly sent out an email blast to supporters criticizing Cox as a “Trump acolyte” who will “take Maryland backward.”
Cox, a lawyer who served two terms in the House of Delegates, is an ardent Trump supporter and had the president’s endorsement in the 2022 campaign.
When the AP call came in, Cox and others at his party in Mount Airy showed their phone screens to each other and a few cheers went up. “God is good,” one person said.
During the campaign, Cox told voters that he was a bona fide Republican, as opposed to Hale, who joined the Republican Party only last summer.
Hale, a retired bank founder and owner of the Baltimore Blast soccer team, told voters that he had long held conservative values and had been a Democrat only to facilitate his business ventures.
Both Hale and Cox ran low-dollar, low-visibility campaigns in the primary. The winner will need to turn up his fundraising prowess to amplify his message against Moore, who has all the advantages of incumbency and $7 million in the bank.
Hale offered voters a broad message that he’d use his business acumen to better run the state and boost the economy. He said he would lower taxes and fees.
Hale, in brief remarks at a seafood restaurant in Perry Hall, said he was surprised that he lost. He thanked supporters and volunteers and said he’d never forget the campaign.
“I’m just kind of stunned that it’s happened because I truly thought i was going to win this,” he said.
Hale said he would take some time to determine what’s next for him.
“I’m a big boy. I’ve been beaten up before ... So be it,” he said.
The Democratic Party ended up making the biggest splash in the largely low-key Republican primary. Moore and the Maryland Democratic Party put out ads in the last week of the race, charging that Cox is “too conservative” and that Hale can’t be trusted because he switched parties.
Hale and Cox denounced the ads as improper Democratic meddling in Republican affairs. Hale followed up with a doctored image posted to social media showing Moore and Cox hugging, suggesting that the Democratic ads served to bolster Cox’s campaign.
Voter registration trends work in Moore’s favor. About 51% of registered voters are Democrats, nearly 24% are Republicans, and 23% are unaffiliated. For a Republican to win a statewide office, they must sway a significant portion of Democrats and unaffiliated voters — a challenging task under Trump, who is deeply unpopular in Maryland.
While the matchup is the same, the candidates are in different positions. Moore was a political novice in 2022; now he has four years of decisions for voters to judge and an approval rating that dipped below 50%.
“We’re going to take the case to every person in Maryland ... because Wes Moore believes he can continue to run on his failed record,” Cox said. “And the people of Maryland aren’t having it any more.”
Moore exuded optimism from casting his morning vote in Annapolis to being declared the winner of the primary after 8 p.m.
“There is more work to do, but what we’ve done together is just the beginning of what it looks like to build a Maryland that leaves no one behind,” Moore said in a statement Tuesday night.
The Green Party will pick its nominee in July; so far, the only candidate is Andy Ellis.
Banner reporters Ellie Wolfe, Courtney Knight and Camille Bugayong contributed to this article.
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