One down…
Over the weekend, a popular Democrat governor widely believed to be a top 2028 presidential contender officially took his name out of the running.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) on Sunday said he is “not running for president” in ’28 — knocking out one of the top contenders to lead the Democratic ticket, three years before the election.
Moore, while appearing on NBC’s Meet the Press, was asked by host Kristen Welker if he plans on serving a full term if he wins reelection as governor next year. He told Welker he does plan on serving the full four-year term — leading her to clarify that means he is removing himself from the ’28 field.
“Do you rule out a run for president, governor?” Welker asked him.
“Yeah, I’m not running for president,” Moore responded.
She responded: “You rule it out?”
Moore then told her “Yes, I’m not running for president.”
At that point, Welker asked him once again to clarify his intentions, asking if he “completely” ruled it out.
Here is what Moore said:
“I’m so excited about what we’re doing. That we’ve gone from 43rd in the country in unemployment to now one of the lowest unemployment rates. We’ve had amongst the fastest drops in violent crime anywhere in the United States of America. Our population is growing. Maryland is moving, and so I’m really excited about going back in front of the people of my state and asking for another term.”
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Last month, Kalshi betting market put Moore at 6% odds to be the party’s nominee — which came in fourth behind California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) at 20%, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) at 15%, and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg (D) at 10%. The president site Polymarket also had Moore as a top five contender.
In 2024, the Maryland Governor faced controversy after falsely claiming to be a Bronze Star recipient on a 2006 White House fellowship application.
Moore, who was 27 years old when he applied for the White House position, blamed his Army superiors for the inclusion of the falsehood on the application and said he never corrected the mistake because he was eager to “begin the next phase” of his life, in a statement released after the New York Times reported on the embellishment.
“These are the facts,” the Maryland governor wrote in his lengthy statement. “While serving overseas with the Army, I was encouraged to fill out an application for the White House Fellowship by my deputy brigade commander. In fact, he helped me edit it before I sent it in. At the time, he had recommended me for the Bronze Star. He told me to include the Bronze Star award on my application after confirming with two other senior-level officers that they had also signed off on the commendation.”
Moore noted that his deputy brigade commander “felt comfortable with instructing me to include the award” on the application because he was under the impression that the medal for heroic or meritorious service had already been “approved by his senior leadership.”
“In the military, there is an understanding that if a senior officer tells you that an action is approved, you can trust that as a fact. That is why it was part of the application, plain and simple,” the governor explained.
“Towards the end of my deployment, I was disappointed to learn that I hadn’t received the Bronze Star. But I was ready to begin the next phase of my life,” Moore continued.
Moore deployed to Afghanistan as a lieutenant with the 82nd Airborne Division in 2005, according to his official governor’s biography.
Moore was ultimately awarded the Bronze Star in December 2024 for his deployment to Afghanistan.
