Wes Moore did not just win a second term on Tuesday. He did it by a landslide, beating Republican Dan Cox for the second time, and the ballot below him changed who runs Maryland’s biggest local governments.
Five of the state’s seven largest jurisdictions will now be led by Black executives: Baltimore City, Baltimore County, Montgomery County, Prince George’s County and Howard County. Those are the places where Black Marylanders send their kids to school, ride the buses and call about a broken streetlight. County executives set those budgets.
The firsts are specific. Julian Jones, a retired firefighter who spent 12 years on the Baltimore County Council, won the county executive’s office with more than 62% of the vote. No Black candidate had held it since it was created in 1956. “Help is on the way for Baltimore County residents,” Jones said. “We will get to work on our commitment to build new schools.”
In Howard County, Vanessa Atterbeary became the first Black woman elected county executive. In Montgomery County, Will Jawando won the executive’s job. On the Eastern Shore, Ernest Davis won in Wicomico County, the first Black executive there. In Prince George’s County, Aisha Braveboy kept hers. “It’s time to get back to work,” Braveboy said.
There was more down the ballot. Tiffany Alston moved from the House of Delegates to the State Senate. Prince George’s voters approved Question B to eliminate the at-large seats on their county council.
Turnout helped. State Administrator Jared DeMarinis said the last day of early voting was “record-breaking,” with more than 124,000 voters and more than 7,300 same-day registrations.
The caution is about what comes next. A county executive controls a budget and a school construction list, but Maryland’s counties are squeezed, and Jones and the others took office promising money they will have to find. Black voters turned out to put these leaders in place. They are entitled to hold them to the schools, housing and transit they were promised.
Moore, Maryland’s first Black governor, will be sworn in for his second term in January.
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