Wes Moore (Maryland politician)

Wes Moore (full name Westley Watende Omari Moore) was born on October 15, 1978, in Takoma Park, Maryland, to Joy and Westley Moore. When he was three, his father died of a rare but treatable virus; the family moved to the Bronx to live with his grandparents, and he returned to Maryland at 14.⁠[1][2]

In 1998 he graduated from Valley Forge Military Academy and College with an associate degree and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army.⁠[1][3]

Moore graduated from Johns Hopkins University in 2001 with a bachelor’s degree in international relations and economics and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa; while a student he interned in the office of Baltimore Mayor Kurt Schmoke. He was the first Black Rhodes Scholar in Johns Hopkins’ history and earned an M.Litt. in international relations from Wolfson College, University of OxfordUniversity of OxfordThe University of Oxford is a university in Oxford, England, where teaching existed in some form by 1096; it describes itself as the oldest university in the English-speaking world and is organised as a federal system of the university and dozens of self-governing colleges.Open the full entry, in 2004.⁠[2][1]

In 2005 Moore deployed to Afghanistan as a lieutenant with the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, leading soldiers in combat; he served as a captain and paratrooper. After returning he served as a White House Fellow, advising on national security and international relations.⁠[1][2]

In 2010 Moore published The Other Wes Moore, about the fragility of opportunity in America, which became a perennial New York Times bestseller, and founded the television production company Omari Productions. He went on to publish Discovering Wes Moore (2013), The Work (2015) and This Way Home (2016), and co-wrote Five Days: The Fiery Reckoning of an American City (2020), about Baltimore after the death of Freddie Gray in 2015.⁠[1][3][2]

In 2014 Moore founded BridgeEdU in Baltimore, a company that reworked the freshman year of college for underserved students; it was acquired in 2018 by Edquity, a Brooklyn-based student financial-success platform.⁠[2][1]

From 2017 to 2021 Moore was chief executive of the Robin Hood Foundation, which during his four years distributed more than $600 million toward lifting families out of poverty, including in Maryland; he kept his family’s home in Baltimore although the foundation is based in New York.⁠[2][1]

In 2022 Moore was elected with running mate Aruna Miller, defeating Republican Dan Cox by 32 percentage points, and became Maryland’s first Black governor, with the highest individual vote total in the state’s gubernatorial history. He took office on January 18, 2023, as Maryland’s 63rd governor, the third African American elected governor in U.S. history.⁠[2][4][3]

Several laws Moore signed in the 2023 legislative session took effect on July 1, 2023, including the Fair Wage Act of 2023, which moved the $15 hourly minimum wage forward two years to January 1, 2024, affecting about 163,000 workers; the Clean Energy and Transportation Act, which expanded incentives for medium- and heavy-duty electric trucks and charging stations; the Access to Banking Act, which established the Maryland Community Investment Venture Fund; the Keep Our Heroes Home Act, which raised the military retirement income tax exemption; and the Maryland Educator Shortage Reduction Act of 2023.⁠[5]

He said: “When we took office, we pledged that this administration would move fast and move differently.”⁠[5]

In Maryland’s Democratic primary on June 23, 2026, Moore easily won the nomination for a second term, setting up a November rematch with Republican Dan Cox.⁠[4]

The Associated Press called the race for Moore about a minute after polls closed on November 3, before any votes had been counted. With 71% of votes counted he had 62%, defeating Cox by nearly two to one; his running mate, Lieutenant Governor Aruna Miller, was re-elected with him.⁠[6][7]

In his victory speech at the M&T Bank Exchange he said: “Four years ago, we started this improbable journey together, where you all had faith in a candidate.” He added: “I know our goals are ambitious. I know they’re audacious.” His first term focused on job creation, ending child poverty, reducing violent crime and education reform, as well as energy policy and data center reform.⁠[7]

Moore worked in finance at Deutsche Bank in London and at CitigroupCitigroupCitigroup Inc. is a global diversified financial services holding company based in New York, with a history dating back to 1812.Open the full entry in New York.⁠[1][3]

Office of Governor Wes Moore: Official website: https://governor.maryland.gov/ (opens in a new window).⁠[1]

X: Public account: https://x.com/govwesmoore (opens in a new window).⁠[1]

LinkedInLinkedInLinkedIn is a social networking platform for professionals. It was founded in 2002 by Reid Hoffman and others, launched in 2003, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2011; after Microsoft acquired it for approximately $26.2 billion in 2016, it became a wholly owned Microsoft subsidiary. Its revenue comes from membership subscriptions, advertising, and recruitment solutions.Open the full entry: Public profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iamwesmoore/ (opens in a new window).⁠[1]

YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is Google’s video-sharing and creator platform, founded in 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim and acquired by Google in 2006. Built around video uploading, viewing, and creator earnings, the platform has developed Shorts, YouTube Music, Premium, YouTube TV, and products for children, and is headquartered in San Bruno, California, United States.Open the full entry: Public channel: https://www.youtube.com/@GovWesMoore (opens in a new window).⁠[1]