Maryland Gov. Wes Moore Thursday endorsed dozens of candidates for the upcoming June primary elections, giving his seal of approval to Julian Jones for Baltimore County executive and Vanessa Atterbeary for Howard County executive.
The governor himself is facing only token opposition in his own Democratic primary, enabling him to focus his campaign time and money boosting his favored down-ballot candidates. He created a “Leave No One Behind” slate and seeded it with $250,000 to help his allies.
In a statement issued by his campaign, Moore said he needs “a team that will push back against Washington and push forward to build a Maryland that leaves no one behind” — echoing his campaign slogan.
Last week, Moore issued endorsements in a handful of “red to blue” races, where Democrats are hoping to unseat incumbent Republicans. But all but one of those candidates are unopposed in their Democratic primaries.
This latest batch of endorsements includes many candidates who have primary showdowns in June.
County executive endorsements
In Baltimore County, Moore is putting his support behind Jones, a retired firefighter and three-term county councilman who is among five Democrats running for county executive.
The others running in Baltimore County are Councilman Izzy Patoka, Councilman Pat Young, lawyer and advocate Nick Stewart and county employee Mansoor Shams.
In Howard County, Moore backs Atterbeary, a lawyer who resigned from the House of Delegates this year to focus on her campaign. Atterbeary is one of four Democrats running for county executive.
The others running in Howard County are restaurateur Bob Cockey, Councilwoman Deb Jung and Councilwoman Liz Walsh.
In Prince George’s, incumbent County Executive Aisha Braveboy gets the nod. Braveboy, who spoke at one of Moore’s campaign launch rallies over the weekend, has four lesser-known Democratic challengers.
Moore also is endorsing incumbent Frederick County Executive Jessica Fitzwater, who faces no opposition in the Democratic primary.
The governor opted not to endorse in two other competitive county executive primaries in Central Maryland. Anne Arundel County and Montgomery County both have open county executive seats with multiple credible Democratic candidates.
General Assembly endorsements
Moore offered endorsements to a majority of incumbent Democrats in the House of Delegates and state Senate, as well as to a handful of newcomers vying for open seats.
In the state Senate, Moore is endorsing Del. Malcolm Ruff over incumbent Sen. Dalya Attar in District 41, which includes neighborhoods in North, West and Southwest Baltimore. The district has significant Black, Jewish and new immigrant populations, with both wealthy neighborhoods and others that are struggling economically.
Moore appointed Ruff to a vacant delegate seat in that district in 2023, after party leaders deadlocked between Ruff and another candidate. Ruff and Attar, then also a state delegate, both applied for a vacancy in the state Senate last year, with Attar winning.
Since then, Attar was indicted on multiple federal charges, with prosecutors alleging she secretly recorded a campaign consultant in bed with a man and then attempted to blackmail the consultant. Ruff, meanwhile, was elevated to a leadership position on the House of Delegates’ budgeting committee.
One notable absence from the endorsement list is District 46 in Baltimore, where Senate President Bill Ferguson is facing a primary challenge from social media personality and small business owner Bobby LaPin.
Moore and Ferguson have disagreed over whether Maryland should adopt a new map of congressional districts that would give Democrats a chance of sweeping all eight seats.
Moore did endorse House of Delegates Speaker Joseline Peña-Melnyk, who shepherded the governor’s favored map to passage in her chamber before it stalled in the Senate.
In a statement issued by the campaign, Peña-Melnyk said: “I am excited to continue working alongside Governor Wes Moore to address the challenges facing Maryland families and to advance bold, thoughtful solutions for our state.”
Congressional endorsements
Moore endorsed all of the current Democratic members of Congress to return to Capitol Hill: Reps. Johnny Olszewski Jr., Sarah Elfreth, Glenn Ivey, April McClain Delaney, Kweisi Mfume and Jamie Raskin.
Among that group, McClain Delaney has the toughest primary fight on her hands, against former U.S. Rep. David Trone, the wealthy founder of a chain of wine stores, for the 6th Congressional District covering Western Maryland, Frederick County and portions of Montgomery County. Mfume also faces primary opposition from Baltimore City Councilman Mark Conway in the Baltimore-based 7th Congressional District.
Moore previously endorsed Dan Schwartz, a Democrat hoping to go up against incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Andy Harris in the Eastern Shore-based 1st Congressional District.
For now, Moore appears to be sitting out the 5th Congressional District in Prince George’s County and Southern Maryland. The impending retirement of longtime U.S. Rep. Steny Hoyer has drawn some two dozen Democratic candidates.
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