Wes Moore facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Wes Moore
Official portrait, 2023
63rd Governor of Maryland
Incumbent
Assumed office January 18, 2023
Lieutenant	Aruna Miller
Preceded by	Larry Hogan
Personal details
Born	Westley Watende Omari Moore (1978-10-15) October 15, 1978 (age 45) Takoma Park, Maryland, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Dawn Flythe ​ (m. 2007)​
Children	2
Residence	Government House
Education	Valley Forge Military Academy and College (AA) Johns Hopkins University (BA) Wolfson College, Oxford (MLitt)
Signature
Military service
Branch/service	United States Army
Years of service	1998–2014
Rank	Captain
Unit	82nd Airborne Division
Battles/wars	War in Afghanistan
Awards	National Defense Service Medal Afghanistan Campaign Medal Armed Forces Reserve Medal Army Service Ribbon Parachutist Badge

Westley Watende Omari Moore (born October 15, 1978) is an American politician, investment banker, author, nonprofit executive, and former television producer serving as the 63rd governor of Maryland since 2023.

Moore was born in Maryland and raised largely in New York. He graduated from Johns Hopkins University and received a master's degree from Wolfson College, Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. After several years in the U.S. Army and Army Reserve, Moore became an investment banker in New York. Between 2010 and 2015, Moore published five books, including a young adult novel. He served as CEO of the Robin Hood Foundation from 2017 to 2021. Moore is the author of The Other Wes Moore and The Work. He was also the host of Beyond Belief on the Oprah Winfrey Network, as well as the executive producer and a writer for Coming Back with Wes Moore on PBS.

Moore is a longtime member of the Democratic Party. He won the 2022 Maryland gubernatorial election against Republican nominee Dan Cox, to become Maryland's first African-American governor, the third African-American person elected as governor of any U.S. state, and as of 2024, the only African-American incumbent governor of any U.S. state. Moore is the fifth African-American U.S. state governor overall following P. B. S. Pinchback of Louisiana, Douglas Wilder of Virginia, Deval Patrick of Massachusetts and David Paterson of New York.

Early life and education

Moore was born in Takoma Park, Maryland, to father William Westley Moore Jr., a broadcast news journalist, and mother Joy Thomas Moore, a daughter of immigrants from Jamaica and a media professional.

On April 16, 1982, when Moore was nearly four years old, his father died from acute epiglottitis. In the summer of 1984, Moore's mother took him and his two sisters to live in the Bronx, New York, with their grandparents. His grandfather, Rev. Dr. James Thomas, a Jamaican immigrant, was the first Black minister in the history of the Dutch Reformed Church. His grandmother, Winell Thomas, a Cuban who moved to Jamaica before immigrating to the United States, was a retired school teacher. Moore attended Riverdale Country School. When Moore's grades declined and he became involved in petty crime, his mother enrolled him in Valley Forge Military Academy and College.

In 1998, Moore graduated Phi Theta Kappa from Valley Forge with an associate degree, completed the requirements for the United States Army's early commissioning program, and was appointed a second lieutenant of Military Intelligence in the Army Reserve. He then went on to attend Johns Hopkins University where he studied international relations and economics and graduated Phi Beta Kappa and Omicron Delta Kappa in 2001. While at Hopkins, Moore played as wide receiver for the Johns Hopkins Blue Jays football team for two seasons. He was initiated into the Sigma Sigma Chapter of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity at Johns Hopkins in 2000. In 1998 and 1999, Moore interned for Baltimore Mayor Kurt Schmoke. He later became involved with the March of Dimes before serving in the Army. He also interned at the United States Department of Homeland Security under Secretary Tom Ridge. After graduating, he attended Wolfson College, Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, where he earned a master's degree in international relations in 2004 and submitted a thesis entitled, Rise and Ramifications of Radical Islam in the Western Hemisphere. He was activated in the Army following the September 11 attacks, and was deployed to Afghanistan from 2005 to 2006, attaining the rank of captain in the 82nd Airborne Division. He retired from the Army in 2014.

Career

Moore at Social Innovation Summit by New America in January 2020

In February 2006, Moore was named a White House Fellow to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. He later worked as an investment banker at Deutsche Bank in Manhattan and at Citibank from 2007 to 2012 while living in Jersey City, New Jersey. In 2009, Moore was included on Crain’s New York Business's "40 Under 40" list.

In 2010, Moore founded a television production company, Omari Productions, to create content for networks such as the Oprah Winfrey Network, PBS, HBO, and NBC. In May 2014, he produced a three-part PBS series, Coming Back with Wes Moore, which followed the lives and experiences of returning veterans.

In 2014, Moore founded BridgeEdU, a company that provided services to support students in their transition to college. Students participating in BridgeEdU paid $500 into the program with varying fees. BridgeEdU was not able to achieve financial stability and was acquired by student financial services company Edquity in 2019, mostly for its database of clients. A Baltimore Banner interview with former BridgeEdU students found that the short-lived company had mixed results.

In September 2016, Moore produced All the Difference, a PBS documentary that followed the lives of two young African-American men from the South Side of Chicago from high school through college and beyond. Later that month, he launched Future City, an interview-based talk show with Baltimore's WYPR station.

From June 2017 until May 2021, Moore was CEO of the Robin Hood Foundation, a charitable organization that attempts to alleviate problems caused by poverty in New York City. It works mainly through funding schools, food pantries and shelters. It also administers a disaster relief fund. During his tenure as CEO, the organization also raised more than $650 million, including $230 million in 2020 to provide increased need for assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic. Moore also sought to expand his advocacy to include America's poor and transform the organization into a national force in the poverty fight. Moore served on Under Armour's board of directors from September 2020 to November 2022, resigning from the board shortly after becoming governor-elect.

Books

On April 27, 2010, Spiegel & Grau published his first book, The Other Wes Moore. The 200-page book explores the lives of two young Baltimore boys who shared the same name and race, but largely different familial histories that leads them both down very different paths. In December 2012, Moore announced that The Other Wes Moore would be developed into a feature film, with Oprah Winfrey attached as an executive producer. In September 2013, Ember published his second book, Discovering Wes Moore. The book maintains the message and story set out in The Other Wes Moore, but is more accessible to young adults. In April 2021, Unanimous Media announced it would adapt The Other Wes Moore into a feature film. As of June 2022, a film has yet to be produced.

In January 2015, Moore wrote his third book, The Work. In November 2016, he wrote This Way Home, a young adult novel about Elijah, a high school basketball player, who emerges from a standoff with a local gang after they attempt to recruit him to their basketball team, and he refuses. In March 2020, Moore and former Baltimore Sun education reporter Erica L. Green wrote Five Days: The Fiery Reckoning of an American City, which explores the 2015 Baltimore protests from the perspectives of eight Baltimoreans who experienced it on the front lines.

Political activities

Moore first expressed interest in politics in June 1996, telling a New York Times reporter that he planned to attend law school and enter politics after two years at Valley Forge. He told The Baltimore Sun in October 2022 that he felt the idea of holding elected office "only started to feel like a real possibility in 2020, when he was about to leave his job running Robin Hood".

Moore (center) at a Maryland Democratic Party picnic, 2014

Moore gave a speech at the 2008 Democratic National Convention, supporting Barack Obama for president. In 2013, he said that he had "no interest" in running for public office, instead focusing on his business and volunteer work. Later that year, Attorney General Doug Gansler said that he considered Moore as his running mate in the 2014 Maryland gubernatorial election, in which he ran with state delegate Jolene Ivey.

In April 2015, following the 2015 Baltimore protests, Moore said that the demonstrations in Baltimore were a "long time coming" and that Baltimore "must seize this moment to redress systemic problems and grow." Moore attended the funeral for Freddie Gray but left early to catch a plane to Boston for a speech he was giving on urban poverty. He later said he "felt guilty being away, but it wasn't just that. An audience in Boston would listen to me talk about poverty, but at a historic moment in my own city's history, I was MIA." On the eighth anniversary of Gray's death in April 2023, Moore made a tweet calling his death a "turning point not just those who knew Gray personally, but the entire city".

In October 2017, Governor Larry Hogan nominated Moore to serve on the University System of Maryland Board of Regents.

In October 2020, Moore was named to serve on the transition team of Baltimore mayor-elect Brandon Scott. In January 2021, Speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates Adrienne A. Jones consulted with Moore to craft her "Black agenda" to tackle racial inequalities in housing, health, banking, government, and private corporations.

Governor of Maryland

Elections

2022

Moore campaigning in October 2022

In February 2021, Moore announced he was considering a run for governor of Maryland in the 2022 election. He launched his campaign on June 7, 2021, emphasizing "work, wages, and wealth" and running on the slogan "leave no one behind". His running mate was Aruna Miller, a former state delegate who represented Maryland's 15th district from 2010 to 2019.

During the primary, Moore was endorsed by House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, Prince George's County executive Angela Alsobrooks, television host Oprah Winfrey, and former Governor Parris Glendening. He also received backing from the Maryland State Education Association and VoteVets.org.

On April 6, 2022, Moore filed a complaint with the Maryland State Board of Elections against the gubernatorial campaign of John King Jr., accusing "an unidentified party" of anonymously disseminating "false and disparaging information regarding Wes Moore via electronic mail and social media in an orchestrated attempt to disparage Mr. Moore and damage his candidacy." The complaint also suggested that King "may be responsible for this smear campaign", which the King campaign denied.

Moore won the Democratic primary on July 19, 2022, defeating former Democratic National Committee chairman Tom Perez and Comptroller Peter Franchot with 32.4% of the vote. During the general election, Moore twice campaigned with U.S. President Joe Biden. He also campaigned on reclaiming "patriotism" from Republicans, highlighting his service in the U.S. Army while also bringing attention to Republican nominee and state delegate Dan Cox's participation in the January 6 United States Capitol attack. Moore defeated Cox in the general election, and became Maryland's first Black governor and the first veteran to be elected governor since William Donald Schaefer.

In December 2022, Moore was elected to serve as finance chair of the Democratic Governors Association.

Tenure

Moore being sworn in as governor, 2023

Moore was sworn in on January 18, 2023. He took the oath of office on a Bible owned by abolitionist Frederick Douglass, as well as his grandfather's Bible. The morning before his inauguration, Moore participated in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Memorial at the Annapolis City Dock to "acknowledge the journey" that led to his becoming the third elected Black governor in U.S. history. Later that night, he held a celebratory event at the Baltimore Convention Center.

During the 2023 legislative session, Moore testified for several of his administration's bills, making him the first governor to do so since Martin O'Malley.

Cabinet

Moore began announcing nominations for his 26-member cabinet on November 14, 2022. He finished announcing his cabinet nominees on April 12, 2023, with the nomination of Sanjay Rai as Secretary for the Maryland Higher Education Commission. According to The Baltimore Banner, Moore assembled his cabinet at a slower pace than previous Maryland governors.

Twelve of Moore's cabinet nominees are women and 14 are people of color. His nominees have mixed experience in government, social entrepreneurship, and philanthropy. Three of them, Secretary of Emergency Management Russell Strickland, Maryland State Police superintendent Roland Butler, and Secretary of Public Safety and Correctional Services Carolyn Scruggs, are holdovers from the Hogan administration.

As his chief of staff, Moore chose Fagan Harris, who co-founded the Baltimore Corps organization with Moore a decade ago. Moore also named three members of the Maryland General Assembly to his administration: state senator Paul G. Pinsky as Director of the Maryland Energy Administration; state senator Susan C. Lee as Secretary of State; and House of Delegates Majority Leader Eric Luedtke as chief legislative officer. Other notable Cabinet nominations included Salisbury mayor Jacob R. Day as Secretary of Housing and Community Development, former New York City Department of Correction commissioner Vincent Schiraldi as Secretary of Juvenile Services, Anthony Woods as Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and former WMATA general manager Paul Wiedefeld as Secretary of Transportation.

All but two of Moore's cabinet nominees were unanimously confirmed by the Maryland Senate: Schiraldi, who faced opposition from Republicans over his policies toward juvenile justice reform; and Butler, whose critics claimed had not done enough to address complaints of racism and disparate treatment of Black officers in the Maryland State Police.

Political positions

During an interview with C-SPAN in August 2006, Moore said he identified as a "social moderate and strong fiscal conservative". In September 2022, Moore rephrased his position on fiscal issues as being "fiscally responsible". During his gubernatorial campaign, he was described as center-left, as well as progressive.

Moore has cited Jared Polis, Parris Glendening, and Roy Cooper as his political role models.

Education

Moore supports the Blueprint for Maryland's Future reform effort, testifying before the state legislature to urge its passage. During his campaign, he said that he would "work closely with local governments to make sure they are on board with their commitments to the Blueprint". He supports creating a "service year option" in schools, which would enable high school graduates to do a gap year "in exchange for job training, mentorship, and other support including compensatory tuition at a state college or university." Moore does not support the expansion of charter schools, saying that he wanted to focus on improving public school districts but wanted to ensure accountability for current charters. In September 2022, Moore said he would institute universal pre-K and apprenticeship and trade programs in schools, and promised increases for school construction, educator wages, after-school programs, tutoring, child care, and early childhood education.

In November 2022, Moore called the cancellation of $20,000 in federal student loan debt a "good first step" and said that he would push the Biden administration to forgive more federal student debt if elected governor.

Environment

During his campaign, Moore said he supported the renewable energy goals set by the state's Clean Energy Jobs Act of 2019, which called for a 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and an electrification of the state's vehicle fleet by 2030, and has said the state should pursue "more ambitious goals" beyond carbon neutrality. He has proposed regulations to achieve 100% clean energy use by 2035 and net zero carbon emissions by 2045, electrify the state's fleet, and prioritize environmental-justice funding. He also said that he would establish a "cap-and-invest" program in Maryland, which could tax polluters to provide revenue for clean energy infrastructure and relief in communities of color. In April 2022, Moore signed a Chesapeake Climate Action Network pledge to support legislation to get Maryland to use 100 percent carbon-free electricity by 2035 and to remove trash incineration from the state's "clean energy" classification.

In October 2022, Moore told Lancaster Farming that he would support farmers by eliminating burdensome regulations, preserve farmland, and provide farmers with technical assistance and financial resources. He also said he would develop a plan to accelerate projects improve water quality and cut carbon emissions in his administration's first 100 days, and supported the restoration of the state's Chesapeake Bay Restoration Fund.

Housing

Moore supports the right to counsel in eviction cases, saying that providing tenants with access to counsel is "the just thing to do and it is the right thing to do". On his campaign website, Moore says he would address the "unfair appraisal values in historically redlined neighborhoods" and provide increased funding for the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development.

Gun control

In 2022, Moore supported a bill to ban the possession and sale of ghost guns in Maryland. He supports creating a firearms database to help law enforcement track guns used in crimes. In June 2022, Moore condemned the Supreme Court's ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen, calling it a "misguided and dangerous decision." He also opposed Governor Hogan's decision to suspend the state's "good and substantial reason" standard for obtaining a concealed carry permit following the ruling.

Minimum wage

During his campaign, Moore said that he would accelerate the state's incremental increase to a minimum wage of $15 an hour by 2023. He also supports indexing the state's minimum wage to inflation.

Social issues

Moore testifying before the Senate Committee on Finance in 2010

In September 2010, Moore testified in support of reauthorizing the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families federal assistance program. In July 2021, Moore opposed Governor Hogan's decision to end expanded federal unemployment benefits provided by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 early. In December 2022, Moore said he supported indexing the state's maximum unemployment insurance payment to inflation.

In June 2021, Moore opposed voter-ID legislation introduced by state senator Justin Ready, calling it "voter suppression". In September 2022, Moore said he opposed a lawsuit filed by state delegate Dan Cox against the Maryland State Board of Elections to block the early counting of Maryland's mail-in ballots in the 2022 elections, alleging that Cox was trying to sow distrust and uncertainty in the electoral system.

In 2022, Moore said he supported the Inclusive Schools Act, a bill introduced in the 2022 legislative session that bans schools from discriminating against students based on their sexual orientation and gender identity. He also supported the Trans Health Equity Act, a bill that would have required the state's Medicaid program to cover gender-affirming treatment. In December 2022, Moore praised the signing of the Respect for Marriage Act, which codifies same-sex and interracial marriage rights.

..... He also pledged to release $3.5 million in funding for the ... Care Access Act, a bill passed in the 2022 legislative session that would expand the types of medical professionals who can perform ... in the state, on his first day in office.

In August 2022, Moore supported protests led by veterans at the United States Capitol to pass the Honoring our PACT Act of 2022, which would provide benefits for veterans exposed to burn pits and other toxic phenomena.

During his gubernatorial campaign, Moore said he supported establishing a state "baby bonds" program, which would cost roughly $100 million per year and be seeded with $3,200 for every child born on Medicaid, to target the racial wealth gap. If enacted, it would be the largest baby bond program ever enacted in the United States.

In December 2022, Moore said he supported bringing the new Federal Bureau of Investigation headquarters to Prince George's County, calling it a "personal priority".

Taxes

In May 2022, Moore supported staving off automatic increases to the state's gas tax, arguing that voters needed immediate relief. In September 2022, Moore said that he did not anticipate raising taxes as governor, but planned to work with the legislature to fix what he described as the state's "upside-down taxation system". He also expressed interest in eliminating either the state's estate or inheritance tax to make the state more attractive to retirees. In the same month, Moore told the Maryland Family Network that he would support child care programs by subsidizing the service through tax credits for low-income families.

Transportation

Moore opposed Governor Hogan's decision to cancel the Red Line, and said during his campaign that he supported restarting the rail project. During his campaign, he called for an "intermodal Red Line, that is built quickly, cost-effectively, and with community input on stops, disruptions, and impact on local businesses". In November 2022, Moore said he would support creating a regional transit authority for working on projects.

Moore does not support Governor Hogan's plan to widen portions of the Capital Beltway and Interstate 270 using high-occupancy toll lanes, saying that he would instead support a transit line alongside I-270 and a proposed transit line from Prince George's County to Charles County. Critics have accused Moore of flip-flopping on this stance after he told the Maryland Transit Opportunities that he would be willing to dedicate federal funds to the project, issuing a statement afterwards saying that he would be open to toll lanes if there were strong public consensus. In a radio interview with WAMU in July 2022, Moore said he preferred a "new type of proposal" for the I-270 toll lanes plan that included reversible lanes, increased transit, and greater collaboration with local "stakeholders."

In December 2022, Moore said he would view all transportation issues, including the I-270 and I-495 expansion efforts, through a "lens" of equity, environmental protection, and the local partnership.

Personal life

Moore and his family at his gubernatorial inauguration, 2023

Moore and his wife, Dawn (née Flythe), moved to the Riverside community in Baltimore in 2006. The couple eloped in Las Vegas while he was on a brief leave from Afghanistan and were married by an Elvis impersonator. Their official wedding ceremony was held on July 6, 2007. They have two children, born 2011 and 2013. In February 2023, Moore adopted a dog named Tucker, a shih-poo, from a local animal shelter.

The Moores moved out of their Riverside home by late 2008, purchasing a home for $1.2 million in the Guilford community in north Baltimore, which sold for $2.5 million in July 2023, and keeping their Riverside home as a rental before selling it in February 2021. They reside in Government House, the official residence of the Maryland governor and First Family in Annapolis, Maryland.

In July 2023, Moore received an honorary degree from the University of the Commonwealth Caribbean.

Military decorations and badges

Moore's decorations and medals include:

Parachutist Badge

Afghanistan Campaign Medal

National Defense Service Medal

Armed Forces Reserve Medal with "M" devices

Army Service Ribbon

Electoral history

See also

In Spanish: Wes Moore para niños

• List of minority governors and lieutenant governors in the United States