Gubernatorial hopeful Wes Moore and other Maryland Democratic candidates on the ballot this fall will get a high-profile boost Thursday as President Joe Biden headlines a rally in Rockville to kick off the party’s general election campaign season.
Moore, an author and former nonprofit leader hoping to succeed outgoing Republican Gov. Larry Hogan, will speak at the event while his opponent, Republican Del. Dan Cox, teased Wednesday he would make an appearance nearby.
Hosted by the Democratic National Committee, the rally at Richard Montgomery High School also is expected to feature speeches by Maryland lieutenant governor nominee Aruna Miller, comptroller nominee Brooke Lierman, U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin, U.S. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, U.S. Rep. Jaime Raskin and Maryland Democratic Party Chair Yvette Lewis.
The president will make the short trip to the heavily Democratic suburb outside Washington, D.C., after recently signing a landmark climate and health care bill, dubbed the Inflation Reduction Act, and after his executive action Wednesday to cancel $10,000 of student debt for many borrowers.
Democrats are hoping those actions and others will energize voters nationally in a midterm election year in which Republicans are largely expected to do well, possibly retaking the majorities in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate.
In Maryland, a blue state, most political observers say Democrats likely will fare better.
The party’s registered voters in the state outnumber Republicans more than 2-to-1 and, at the top of the ticket, Cox is widely seen as too conservative to win over enough Democrats and moderate voters to beat Moore.
Hogan, who remains popular among voters in both parties, is not supporting Cox, and national Republicans have not indicated they will hold events or devote resources to help Cox.
The Republican National Committee and the Republican Governors Association, two major national groups that would be expected to help Cox, did not answer questions Wednesday about the Biden event or about Cox.
“I can’t imagine the Republican Governors Association is going to invest heavily in this race,” said David Lublin, a professor and chair of the American University’s government department. “They have a lot bigger fish to fry with a lot stronger chances.”
For the Democratic National Committee, Thursday’s rally is the first major event of the election season at a time when inflation remains front-of-mind for many voters and Biden’s approval rating, while rebounding slightly in recent weeks, remains low at around 41%.
The Maryland Democratic Party, after its highly competitive 10-way gubernatorial primary last month, has presented a united front.
“I’m excited to welcome the President to Maryland to rally around a unified Democratic Party that will deliver the leadership families urgently need,” Moore posted on social media this week.
Moore, who would become Maryland’s first Black governor, is part of a slate of candidates who would make history if elected this fall.
Lierman, the Baltimore delegate running to replace longtime Comptroller Peter Franchot, would be the first woman elected to that office. U.S. Rep. Anthony Brown, meanwhile, is seeking to become the first Black state attorney general. Brown had a family obligation Thursday and was not expected to attend the rally, a spokesman said.
Cox’s campaign said Wednesday the Republican gubernatorial nominee will hold a news conference near the high school before the president’s rally. The campaign did not respond to other requests for comment about the Biden rally or whether it was expecting to have any similar upcoming events with national Republicans or former President Donald Trump.
Cox, a first-term delegate and lawyer from Frederick County, ran heavily on Trump’s endorsement and agenda in the primary against the Hogan-backed Kelly Schulz. Though Trump never held an in-person rally like he did with candidates in other states, he put out multiple statements to boost Cox and participated in a telephone call with thousands of supporters just before the primary.
Political observers say those ties might doom Cox with Maryland’s larger electorate in November, one that gave Biden a 33 percentage-point win over Trump in 2020.
And in Montgomery County, where both candidates will be Thursday, Biden won more than four times the number of votes as Trump in 2020. Home to the largest voting block in the state, Montgomery County voters are typically those who voted for former President Barack Obama, voted for Biden, believed in following government protocols for COVID-19 and are “hugely pro-choice,” Lublin said. Cox, who is ardently anti-abortion, has made the pandemic measures — such as mask and vaccine mandates — his top campaign issue.
“All of those, if you will, Hogan Democrats or Biden-Hogan voters, they’re just not going to vote for Dan Cox because it’s simply not the same sort of choice,” Lublin said.
With more than two-thirds of state governors up for election this year, Maryland is the only currently Republican-held state that is expected to flip in a “safely Democratic” race, according to the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics.
Another group, meanwhile, was planning to protest outside the high school Thursday.
Help Save Maryland, a Montgomery County-based nonprofit organization that fights against pro-immigration policies, planned to protest Biden’s record on immigration. The group’s email invitation for the protest alleged Biden had allowed millions of illegal immigrants into the country after Trump “effectively closed the southern border to illegals and smugglers.”
The invite advised protesters to “be nice” and “be smart” because of the federal law enforcement that will be present.
Brad Botwin, the director of Help Save Maryland, said he sent the email invitation out Tuesday to his 5,000-member email list but did not know how many would show up.
“We just wanted to show the flag, so to speak, and let the president know we’re concerned about the issue,” Botwin said.
The Montgomery County Police Department said in a statement that only invited and registered attendees will be allowed access to the high school. Doors open to the public at 4 p.m. and parking will be prohibited at the high school but will be available for free at nearby parking garages and lots, police said.
