HISTORIC

Maryland Officially Has Its First Black Governor

Moore was sworn in on Wednesday after being introduced by Oprah Winfrey.

Wes Moore became Maryland’s first Black governor and the nation’s third when he was sworn in on Wednesday to a crowd filled with Black leaders and celebrities like actor Chris Tucker and Oprah Winfrey, who introduced him to the crowd in front of the State House. Moore, a Democrat who has never held office before, won his race by a landslide against Trump-backed Dan Cox. He promised to work on inclusion and economic equity, education, fighting violent crime and climate change in a state he called “asset-rich and strategy poor.” Moore was the CEO of the anti-poverty nonprofit Robin Hood Foundation, a best-selling author and Rhodes scholar, and a combat vet who served in Afghanistan. “This might be his first day as an elected official, but Wes Moore has been a public servant his entire adult life,” Winfrey said. “And there’s so much more to come. He’s just getting started.”