Gov. Wes Moore Victory Speech | Midterm Elections 2026

We'll be right What's back. going on, Maryland? Oh, it's a party. Thank y'all. Yes, now. Yes. So, uh... God bless you. So listen, you know, four years ago, four years ago, we started this improbable journey together where you all had faith in a candidate who did not come from a family that was used to making policies, but in many cases came from a family that was used to suffering the consequences of where I got into this work, feeling that our politics oftentimes forgets people and in many cases actually leaves them out on purpose. And that's why I ran for governor. To reject the false choice that makes our politics this zero-sum game, where the same people are always left with the zero. While some in politics say that you're on your own, that I believe that our politics should say that we leave no one behind. You know, it's something that the Army taught me when I was just 17 years old, and I learned to realize that it wasn't just a mantra. This became our governing philosophy. That leave no one behind means that no matter where you start in life, that everyone deserves a fair shot. And that now, over these past four years, we've had a chance to celebrate together and we've had a chance to mourn together. We have seen historic drops in violent crime all throughout the state of Maryland, but yet we've still had to attend far too many funerals. We've watched Marylanders start over 64,000 new businesses here in the state of Maryland in just three and a half years, Despite... Having over 31,000 of our neighbors fired by Donald Trump and J.D. Vance as they wrecked our nation's economy, that we've endured a lot. But Maryland, we persevered together. And thanks to your support, I am so humbled and honored to say we stand here ready to lead Maryland into the future. Thank you. Now, first, I want to give thanks to God. I want to give thanks to God for continuing to rain his blessings on each and every one of us. And I will, as it says in Isaiah 26.4, I will trust in the Lord forever. For the Lord God is an everlasting rock. To my amazing wife and our state's amazing First Lady Dawn, I'll tell you. That lady is my greatest protector. She is my fiercest defender, and she is the love of my life. And I will say it any day and every day that I come to our daughter, Mia, to our son, James. I don't just love you. I'm immensely proud of you because there have been a lot of changes for these two kids. None of them that they asked for, and they have handled it with grace and humility and togetherness. Kids, you are our everything, and I'm grateful. To my amazing mom, Mama Mora, our matriarch in my heart, and to all the members of my family who are here tonight, yay family, and to all those members of our family who are watching us from heaven right now, we just want to say that we love you eternally and I'm grateful for each and every one of you every single day. To my partner, to my partner inside this work, our remarkable The Honourable Lieutenant Governor Aruna Miller. She's extraordinary, y'all. And it is an honor to be on this journey with you, Aruna. And I'm grateful for you. To our amazing, to our amazing campaign team, Dylan Arant. Dylan, I got to give a shout out to Dylan. And the extraordinary job that he and this entire team, our digital team, the field team, the analytics team, everybody, all the volunteers, the door knockers, the ones who are making the calls, the ones who are making sure that everybody understood not just the message, but understood the assignment to everybody on this campaign team and everybody in the Moore Miller administration. You all the ones who made this happen. You did this. Thank you. And to Dan Cox, and to Dan Cox, we just want to say that we wish you and your family the best in your future endeavors. So, so listen, so listen, no, no, so listen, I was, I was raised right by my family. I was trained right by the United States Army, and I serve a mighty God. And when I was growing up, my mother used to tell me, if you never forget who you were fighting for, you will never stop fighting. And tonight. Maryland made it real clear who it is that we're supposed to be fighting for. We're fighting for Crystal Gonzalez. We're, my friend Crystal, I love you too. Where Crystal, three years ago, lost her angelic daughter, Aaliyah. And I swore to her and I promised her that we would do everything in our power to bring down the violent crime rate so families did not have to feel the pain that she had to feel. And I'm thankful that in that time we worked together, driven by your inspiration. And now today, Maryland has the lowest violent crime rate in 40 years. We're fighting for Pastor Daniel Omar Fuentes Espinal from the Eastern Shore, who was abducted by ICE. And I made it clear that here in Maryland, our immigrant community in this state, they will be safe. And that we will embrace the beautiful diversity that makes Maryland who we are. And in our time, we made it illegal for this Trump-Vance ICE operation to deputize our brave and well-trained local law enforcement officers that we're fighting for and alongside partners like Ray Morris and Jack Coburn and Judy Hamilton and Travis Marion, local leadership, who, by the way, happen to be Republican mayors, but who put Maryland first. Because like me, they know that partisanship. is not progress and progress is not partisan that if you want to understand the point of politics and why we do the work that we do let me tell you about someone that I just met today in Howard County. Laura worked for the federal government until she was impacted by these doge cuts and lost her job and today because in Maryland we take care of our own. Laura came up to me today to say thank you because now at a time when she lost a job that she loves she now She has another job that she loves even more because now she is working for the state of Maryland, serving the people of Maryland, making sure that our federal workers are going to be okay. And so while we're proud of the progress that we've made here in the state of Maryland, we know the work, the work isn't finished. And we're going to build upon our progress and build together the best public education system in America here in the state of Maryland. Because every child in Maryland deserves a school that believes in them. That we will continue growing our economy and make our state less dependent on an unreliable Washington, D.C. That means more jobs. It means higher wages. And it means making sure that more Marylanders are building wealth here in the state of Maryland. It means we will continue to create more affordable housing. And turn more renters into homeowners and give people a chance to pass something down to their children besides debts. It means we will continue the greatest public safety turnaround story in the United States of America. And it means we will, we will complete the mission that brought us to politics in the first place. And that Maryland will lead the most aggressive charge to end child poverty in the United States of America. Now, I know sometimes when I say these things, people say, that sounds really ambitious. And I know our goals are ambitious. I know they're audacious. But if that's not why we're here, then why bother? Because I want to be clear. America is tired of these mealy-mouthed, weak-kneed so-called leaders who tell us that running fast on a treadmill is somehow taking us somewhere. That's not why I'm here. And if anyone thinks I am slowing down, I want to be very clear to you, you have got another thing coming. That's not what Maryland voted for. And tonight, Marylanders did not just vote for a governor, guys. They voted, Maryland did not just vote for a governor. Maryland voted to protect the great gift of democracy. Now, I want to be clear. I still hate partisan gerrymandering. But you know what I also hate? I hate when the wealthy and the well-connected try to rewrite the rules to benefit themselves while the rest of us are forced to go by a different set of rules. And so a year ago, a year ago, we warned that our democracy was under attack by this president who was trying to make this pain permanent and to make his grift permanent, that he wanted a Congress that instead of leaders, he wanted a Congress full of cheerleaders. And we had the naysayers and we had the hand wringers who were telling us, oh, you're fighting a fight that wasn't ours. And we were overreacting, but we pushed forward. And then the Voting Rights Act The pinnacle of the civil rights movement was gutted. And in a matter of weeks, Republicans drew out black power all across the South. And when the naysayers and the hand-wringers came back and they told us that we didn't have the votes to fight back and we're out of time, we didn't give up. We worked with the General Assembly and we called a special session. And the naysayers and the hand-wringers, they said, well, it's too late. And I'm so thankful to our partners in the General Assembly who passed the bill that then put it on the ballot. And then... The naysayers and the hand-wringers, they came back, and they said, well, listen, it'll never hold up in court. And then the Maryland Supreme Court voted by a 5-2 margin that they will allow it on the ballot. And the naysayers and the hand-wringers weren't done. And they said, well, you know it's not polling well. Well, thank God we didn't listen to them, because we do hear the people of Maryland loud and clear. Loud and clear. And everybody, do me a favor. Put up your threes. In order to vote. Before us, people had to look down fire hoses and police dogs. They had to look down police batons and the National Guard. They had to walk past people who were screaming racial epithets at them. They did what they did in order to give us the right to vote. And in order to keep it, in order to protect our democracy and keep this in Maryland's hands, we didn't have to look down fire hoses. We didn't have to stave off police dogs. We just simply had to vote yes. And that's what Maryland just did. Maryland has always fought for this country. In the free state, the state of General Harriet Tubman, the state of Frederick Douglass, we've seen hard times before. But there have always been two things that have gotten us through. God's grace and moral leadership. And frankly, we are going to pray for God's grace and we are going to demonstrate moral leadership. That's what's going to get us through this moment. It was the women who served as the greatest conductors of the Underground Railroad and the Eastern Shore who led their families to freedom. It was the union workers who prepared our nation for war, and it was the nurses whose hands healed a nation seeking peace. It was our sailors and our marines from Annapolis, the ones who yell, beat army, which I have a very serious issue with, but the ones who live by the motto, don't give up the ship. It was the young lawyers of the NAACP. Who argued in front of the Supreme Court that separate does not mean equal. It was the ministers and the rabbis, the imams, the ones who left their pulpits and their mosques and their synagogues and their temples to provide comfort to those who had never seen it before. Every single one of them refused to leave anyone behind. And in this moment when too many Americans feel left behind by Washington, our nation needs repair. And this can be and will be a moment when Maryland helps to save our country again. Because when our time is done, I want a Maryland where everyone has a shot to succeed, no matter where their story begins. And where how much money your family has does not determine your value and does not determine how high you can climb. Four years ago, we started this journey together, y'all. And tonight, the work continues For our state. For our country. I love you too. So in this moment, Maryland, let's work together. Let's build together. Let's keep proving that a different kind of politics is possible. Let's keep proving that we can lead in a way that the nation will follow. Let's continue to build a state that those who came before us hoped for, and a state that come after us for a state that they deserve. Let's make sure that together we will build, we will win, and together we will leave no one behind. God bless you. Thank you. God bless the great state of Maryland, and let's keep going.