Westley Watende Omari Moore was born on October 15,1978 and is an American politician, investment banker, author, television producer, and nonprofit executive serving as the 63rd governor of Maryland since 2023.
106 Facts About Wes Moore
2.
Between 2010 and 2015, Wes Moore published five books, including a young adult novel.
3.
Wes Moore served as CEO of the Robin Hood Foundation from 2017 to 2021.
4.
Wes Moore was 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.
5.
Wes Moore's grandmother, Winell Thomas, a Cuban who moved to Jamaica before immigrating to the US, was a retired schoolteacher.
6.
In 1998, Wes 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.
7.
Wes Moore then attended Johns Hopkins University, where he studied international relations and economics and graduated Phi Beta Kappa and Omicron Delta Kappa in 2001.
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At Hopkins, Wes Moore played wide receiver for the Johns Hopkins Blue Jays football team for two seasons.
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Wes Moore was initiated into the Sigma Sigma Chapter of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity at Johns Hopkins in 2000.
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In 1998 and 1999, Wes Moore interned for Baltimore Mayor Kurt Schmoke.
11.
Wes Moore interned at the United States Department of Homeland Security under Secretary Tom Ridge.
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Wes Moore was activated in the Army following the September 11 attacks, and deployed to Afghanistan from 2005 to 2006, attaining the rank of captain in the 82nd Airborne Division.
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In February 2006, Wes Moore was named a White House Fellow to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
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Wes Moore 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.
15.
In 2009, Wes Moore was included on Crain's New York Business's "40 Under 40" list.
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In 2010, Wes Moore founded a television production company, Omari Productions, to create content for networks such as the Oprah Winfrey Network, PBS, HBO, and NBC.
17.
In May 2014, he produced a three-part PBS series, Coming Back with Wes Moore, which followed the lives and experiences of returning veterans.
18.
In 2014, Wes Moore founded BridgeEdU, a company that provided services to support students in their transition to college.
19.
In September 2016, Wes 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.
20.
From June 2017 until May 2021, Wes Moore was CEO of the Robin Hood Foundation, a charitable organization that attempts to alleviate problems caused by poverty in New York City.
21.
Wes Moore sought to expand his advocacy to include America's poor and transform the organization into a national force in the poverty fight.
22.
Wes Moore served on Under Armour's board of directors from September 2020 to November 2022, resigning from the board shortly after becoming governor-elect.
23.
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.
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The book maintains the message and story set out in The Other Wes Moore, but is more accessible to young adults.
25.
In January 2015, Wes Moore wrote his third book, The Work.
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Wes 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.
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Wes Moore 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".
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Wes Moore gave a speech at the 2008 Democratic National Convention, supporting Barack Obama for president.
29.
In October 2020, Wes Moore was named to serve on the transition team of Baltimore mayor-elect Brandon Scott.
30.
In June 2013, a Baltimore Sun investigation alleged that Wes Moore was improperly receiving homestead property tax credits and owed back taxes to the city of Baltimore.
31.
Wes Moore told The Sun that he was unaware of any issues with the home's taxes and wanted to pay what they owed immediately.
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In October 2022, Baltimore Brew reported that Wes Moore had not paid any water and sewage charges since March 2021, owing $21,200 to the city of Baltimore.
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Wes Moore settled his outstanding bills shortly after the article was published.
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Wes Moore was the subject of a CNN article in which he was accused of embellishing his childhood and where he actually grew up.
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Shortly after the article was published, Wes Moore created a website that attempted to rebut the allegations.
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Wes Moore was later criticized for failing to correct television interviewers who incorrectly said he was awarded a Bronze Star.
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Wes Moore left Green Thumb Industries in March 2022, and said in October that he would use a blind trust to hold his assets and resign from every board position if elected governor.
38.
In May 2023, Wes Moore finalized his trust, making him the first governor to have one since Bob Ehrlich.
39.
In February 2021, Wes Moore announced he was considering a run for governor of Maryland in the 2022 election.
40.
Wes Moore launched his campaign on June 7,2021, emphasizing "work, wages, and wealth" and running on the slogan "leave no one behind".
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Wes Moore's running mate was Aruna Miller, a former state delegate who represented Maryland's 15th district from 2010 to 2019.
42.
Wes Moore received backing from the Maryland State Education Association and VoteVets.
43.
Wes 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.
44.
In December 2022, Wes Moore was elected to serve as finance chair of the Democratic Governors Association.
45.
Wes Moore took the oath of office on a Bible owned by abolitionist Frederick Douglass, as well as his grandfather's Bible.
46.
The morning before his inauguration, Wes 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 US history.
47.
Wes Moore began announcing nominations for his 26-member cabinet on November 14,2022.
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Wes Moore finished announcing his cabinet nominees on April 12,2023, with the nomination of Sanjay Rai as Secretary for the Maryland Higher Education Commission.
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Wes Moore's nominees have mixed experience in government, social entrepreneurship, and philanthropy.
50.
Wes Moore has cited Jared Polis, Parris Glendening, and Roy Cooper as his political role models.
51.
Wes Moore supports hiring more probation and parole officers, pursuing police misconduct allegations, and increasing resources for law enforcement agencies.
52.
Wes Moore says he "believes in policing with maximum accountability and appropriate intensity", and would provide funding for community-based violence intervention programs to address violent crime.
53.
In May 2022, Wes Moore called on Governor Larry Hogan to target state resources toward preventing gun violence in Baltimore.
54.
Wes Moore has campaigned on addressing crime in the city through better cooperation between the city and state, and to leverage these relationships on the federal level to bring more resources into the city.
55.
In January 2023, Wes Moore told CBS News that he supported a bill that would prohibit charging juveniles with felony murder.
56.
In January 2023, following the release of videos capturing the arrest and police assault of Tyre Nichols, Wes Moore condemned the brutality of the police and thanked the US Department of Justice for opening an investigation into Nichols's death.
57.
Wes Moore later said in an interview that Nichols's death only highlighted the need to tackle injustice head-on.
58.
In February 2023, Wes Moore pledged $11 million in funding for the Maryland Coordination and Analysis Center, an agency that serves as a data-sharing platform for law enforcement officials across the state.
59.
Wes Moore said that his administration would not use a quota system for traffic stops and arrests after a Baltimore Banner investigation found that Maryland State Police supervisors previously demanded troopers hit targets for traffic stops and arrests.
60.
In November 2022, Wes Moore said that he would not support spending state funds to keep the Washington Commanders in Maryland.
61.
In December 2022, Wes Moore said he supported bringing the new Federal Bureau of Investigation headquarters to Prince George's County, calling it a "personal priority".
62.
In March 2023, Wes Moore joined Democratic members of Maryland's congressional delegation and Prince George's County Executive Angela Alsobrooks in co-signing a letter to President Joe Biden asking him to get involved in the FBI's headquarters selection process.
63.
In February 2023, Wes Moore introduced the Innovation Economy Infrastructure Act, which would provide $10 million in grants for "infrastructure projects in eligible technology sectors", and the Broadband Expansion Act, which initially offered tax incentives to the broadband internet industry but was later watered down to a bill to study how to incentivize broadband expansion.
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Also in February 2023, Wes Moore announced a $600 million five-year partnership with the Baltimore Orioles to develop properties around Camden Yards.
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In September 2022, Wes 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.
66.
In November 2022, Wes Moore called the cancellation of $20,000 in federal student loan debt a "good first step" and said he would push the Biden administration to forgive more federal student debt if elected governor.
67.
In May 2023, during a commencement speech at Morehouse College, Wes Moore criticized efforts to ban books and restrict curriculum in schools, suggesting that politicians who sought to "silence or rewrite the history of Black and brown people are actually afraid of people understanding their power".
68.
Wes Moore has said that he would establish a "cap-and-invest" program in Maryland, which would tax polluters to provide revenue for clean energy infrastructure and relief in communities of color.
69.
In March 2023, Wes Moore set a goal of achieving 8.5 gigawatts of wind power generation in the state by 2031, which was later codified after he signed the POWER Act in April 2023.
70.
Wes Moore said he would support Chesapeake Bay restoration efforts by promoting "accountability and enforcement" in Maryland, as well as in neighboring states, use federal funds to upgrade water and wastewater systems, and by increasing the number of environmental inspectors.
71.
In October 2022, Wes Moore told Lancaster Farming that he would support farmers by eliminating burdensome regulations, preserving farmland, and giving farmers technical assistance and financial resources.
72.
Wes Moore said he would develop a plan to accelerate projects to 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.
73.
In February 2023, Wes Moore introduced the Clean Transportation and Energy Act, which increases incentives for people and businesses looking to purchase electric trucks and charging stations.
74.
In January 2023, Wes Moore proposed providing members of the Maryland National Guard with free health and dental care; legislators later amended the bill to cap monthly reimbursements at $60 a month.
75.
On his campaign website, Wes 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.
76.
In 2022, Wes Moore supported a bill to ban the possession and sale of ghost guns in Maryland.
77.
Wes Moore supports creating a firearms database to help law enforcement track guns used in crimes.
78.
In January 2023, Wes Moore attended a Moms Demand Action rally in Annapolis, Maryland, where he said he would support the Gun Safety Act of 2023.
79.
Wes Moore supported legislation introduced and passed during the 2022 legislative session that created a ballot referendum to legalize recreational marijuana in Maryland, and another bill that would regulate marijuana possession should the referendum pass in November.
80.
In January 2023, Wes Moore signed an executive order releasing $46.5 million to start developing the framework for a recreational marijuana industry in the state, with a majority of the released funds going toward grants for minority-owned firms.
81.
In May 2023, Wes Moore allowed a bill that prohibits police from stopping a vehicle solely based on if they smell marijuana to become law without his signature.
82.
Wes Moore supports indexing the state's minimum wage to inflation.
83.
At the beginning of the 2023 legislative session, Wes Moore introduced the Fair Wage Act, a bill that would accelerate the state's minimum wage build-up to reach $15 an hour by October 2023 and index the minimum wage to the consumer price index starting in July 2025, with increases capped at five percent per year.
84.
Wes Moore allocated $218 million in his first budget to support state service providers in keeping up with the accelerated wage increase.
85.
In June 2021, Wes Moore opposed voter-ID legislation introduced by state senator Justin Ready, calling it "voter suppression".
86.
In September 2022, Wes 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.
87.
Wes Moore supported the Trans Health Equity Act, a bill that would have required the state's Medicaid program to cover gender-affirming treatment.
88.
In December 2022, Wes Moore praised the signing of the Respect for Marriage Act, which codifies same-sex and interracial marriage rights.
89.
On March 31,2023, Wes Moore became the first Maryland governor to recognize International Transgender Day of Visibility when he issued an official proclamation.
90.
In June 2022, following the Supreme Court's ruling in Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization, Moore said that he would support an amendment to the Maryland Constitution to enshrine abortion access.
91.
Wes Moore pledged to release $3.5 million in funding for the Abortion Care Access Act, a bill passed in the 2022 legislative session that would expand the types of medical professionals who can perform abortions in Maryland, on his first day in office.
92.
On January 19,2023, Wes Moore signed his first executive order releasing $3.5 million in funding for training healthcare providers in abortion care under the Abortion Care Access Act.
93.
In February 2023, Wes Moore joined the Reproductive Freedom Alliance, an interstate gubernatorial agreement led by California Governor Gavin Newsom intended to strengthen abortion access in member states.
94.
In December 2022, Wes Moore attended the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington's legislative breakfast, where he said he would be "very aggressive" in promoting trade between Maryland and Israel and promised that one of his first overseas visits would be to Israel.
95.
In May 2022, Wes Moore supported staving off automatic increases to the state's gas tax, arguing that voters needed immediate relief.
96.
In September 2022, Wes Moore told the Maryland Family Network that he would support child care programs by subsidizing the service through tax credits for low-income families.
97.
Wes Moore expressed interest in eliminating either the state's estate or inheritance tax to make the state more attractive to retirees.
98.
Wes Moore signed both bills into law in April and May 2023.
99.
Wes Moore opposed Governor Hogan's decision to cancel the Red Line, and said during his campaign that he supported restarting the rail project.
100.
In November 2022, Wes Moore said he would support creating a regional transit authority for working on projects.
101.
Critics have accused Wes 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.
102.
In December 2022, Wes 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 local partnership.
103.
Wes Moore said he planned to use federal funds and public-private partnerships in transportation projects, including the Purple and Red lines.
104.
In September 2010, Wes Moore testified in support of reauthorizing the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families federal assistance program.
105.
In December 2022, Wes Moore said he supported indexing the state's maximum unemployment insurance payment to inflation.
106.
In February 2023, Wes Moore adopted a dog named Tucker, a shih-poo, from a local animal shelter.