Gov. Wes Moore (D) speaks at the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. (Photo by Josh Davidsburg/Capital News Service)
Gov. Wes Moore (D), who stumped across the country for Democratic candidates up and down the ballot in 2024, raised almost $4 million for his state campaign account over the past year — often when he was on out-of-town trips.
Moore’s report outlining campaign fundraising and spending activities from Jan. 11, 2024, until Jan. 8 of this year showed his principal campaign committee brought in just shy of $3.8 million and finished the reporting period with $4,064,748 in the bank. Moore spent more than $1.7 million over the past year, mainly on staff salaries, travel and payments to consultants.
In addition, Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller (D) reported raising $365,513 since last January and banking $748,175 on Jan. 8, the first day of the 2025 General Assembly, which triggered a three-month fundraising freeze when into effect for statewide elected officials. A joint fundraising committee of the two candidates was essentially inactive over the past year, but still had $22,224 on hand as of Jan. 8.
Moore’s $4 million, along with Miller’s war chest and the money in the joint fundraising account can be used for their reelection campaign in 2026.
“Our mission to create a Maryland that leaves no one behind is driven by our grassroots supporters,” Moore said in a statement released by his campaign Thursday. “The work we are able to accomplish in Annapolis for the people of Maryland is possible because of the incredible support of volunteers and advocates. Because of them, we are able to make Maryland a safer, more affordable, and a more competitive home for everyone.”
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The campaign reports were filed with the Maryland State Board of Elections late Wednesday evening, moments before the midnight deadline. Moore’s finance report totaled 1,125 pages, including 874 pages listing contributions from individual donors — a testament to his intense level of political activity in 2024, as a surrogate for other Democratic candidates and as he collected campaign funds for his reelection.
In addition to the information contained in Moore’s report, the campaign said the governor also “led a $1.5 million fundraising effort for the Maryland Democratic Party,” as well raising as $1.1 million for Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign and $1.3 million “to support important elections in Maryland to include that of Senator Angela Alsobrooks and Representative April [McClain] Delaney.”
Those claims could not immediately be verified due to the sheer enormity of the campaign finance report. Moore also created a federal political action committee, Unity First PAC, last summer, which raised money to support Alsobrooks and McClain Delaney and attack their Republican opponents. The PAC is due to report its financial activities through the end of 2024 with the Federal Election Commission on Jan. 31.
Maryland Matters plans to make a deeper dive into Moore’s massive campaign finance statement in the days ahead. What’s clear from an initial look at the report is that Moore spent a lot of time on the road in 2024, and raised money for his campaign throughout the country — in addition to holding multiple fundraisers in Maryland.
Moore showed dozens of donations that hit the $6,000 maximum for state campaign contributions, but he also attracted thousands of small-dollar donors from Maryland and across the country, some chipping in as little as $5 or $10. The breakdown between in-state and out-of-state donations, and small and large contributions, could not immediately be determined.
In addition to the more than $3.6 million he pulled in from individual donors and entities, Moore also reported $30,250 in contributions from federal PACs, $14,150 in donations from Maryland political committees, $44,250 from Maryland-based PACs and $13,000 from nonfederal out-of-state PACs.
Moore is expected to seek a second term in 2026, but it isn’t clear how tough a race he will face. Many Republicans are hoping that former Gov. Larry Hogan (R), who just lost a very expensive Senate race to Alsobrooks despite his enduring popularity, will try to get his old job back. Hogan hasn’t completely ruled out the idea, but he has taken no formal steps to run, either.
Hogan has no formal state campaign committee open at the moment, according to state Board of Elections records. But he has been trolling Moore on social media lately, as the governor struggles with a tough fiscal situation — which he insists he inherited from Hogan.
A recent poll from Gonzales Research & Media showed Moore defeating Hogan in a hypothetical matchup, 52% to 38%.
Moore’s latest campaign finance report, as might be expected for an incumbent governor, is stuffed with contributions from wealthy Marylanders and scores of companies and industries that do business with the state of Maryland, or rely on certain state policies to thrive. But Moore has also become a national political celebrity who is frequently discussed as a possible White House contender in 2028 or beyond — and he received contributions over the past year from well-known individuals across the country.
Throughout his brief political career, relying on his contacts from his work on Wall Street, in the Obama White House and running a philanthropy in New York, Moore has pulled in contributions from a range of financial industry titans, lawyers, real estate executives and Black entrepreneurs from outside Maryland. Notable out-of-state contributors over the past year include:
- David Baugh, CEO of the Aspen Valley Ski and Snow Board Club in Colorado, who donated $1,000
- Cornell Belcher, a prominent Democratic pollster in Washington, D.C. ($5,000)
- Tom Bernstein, president and co-founder of Chelsea Piers, the entertainment complex in New York ($3,000 — and his wife, Andrea Bernstein, a documentary film producer, chipped in an additional $3,000)
- Jacklyn Bezos and Miguel Bezos of Miami, parents of tech mogul Jeff Bezos, contributed $3,000 each
- Carol Biondi, a TV producer ($1,000)
- Casey Bloys, CEO of HBO ($500)
- Julia Bowen, an actress, best known for starring in the TV series “Modern Family” ($5,000)
- Jay Brown, co-founder with Jay-Z of the entertainment company RocNation ($3,000)
- Tory Burch, the women’s clothing designer ($6,000)
- Antoinette Bush, a former NewsCorp. executive and her husband Dwight Bush, a businessman and former U.S. ambassador to Morocco during the Obama administration ($6,000 each)
- Nina Easton, a journalist and author who is married to Russ Schriefer — Hogan’s longtime media guru ($500)
- John Guess, CEO of the Houston Museum of African-American Culture ($4,000)
- Bradley Graham and Lissa Muscatine, co-owners of the D.C. bookstore chain Politics and Prose (Muscatine is also Moore’s former campaign treasurer; both gave $6,000)
- Agnes Gund, New York philanthropist and president emerita of the Museum of Modern Art ($3,000)
- Rohan Hilton, also known as First Born, an arts and entertainment entrepreneur ($1,000)
- Broderick Johnson, a retired Comcast executive and former secretary of the Cabinet under President Barack Obama ($6,000)
- Michael Johnson, CEO of Herbalife ($500)
- Craig Kallman, CEO of Atlantic Records ($3,000)
- Bonnie Lautenberg, New York-based writer, photographer and philanthropist, and widow of the late New Jersey Sen. Frank Lautenberg ($1,000)
- Melony Lewis, a financier and trustee of the Aspen Institute ($6,000)
- Jeanine Liburd, a BET and Paramount Global executive ($2,500)
- Amanda Lipitz, a New York-based film producer and director who grew up in Baltimore ($6,000)
- Leon Logothetis, a reality series host and Los Angeles-based motivational speaker ($6,000)
- Daniel Lubetzky, Austin,Texas-based founder of Kind Snacks ($6,000 — and his wife, Michelle Lubetzky, a nephrologist, also gave $6,000)
- Magic Johnson Enterprises ($6,000)
- Stephanie March, an actress best known for her recurring role in “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” ($3,000)
- Stephanie McClelland, New York theater producer ($2,000)
- Mitchell Modell, former CEO of the Modell Sporting Goods chain ($1,000)
- Lyndon Olson, former insurance executive and U.S. ambassador to Sweden under Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush ($2,000)
- Former Democratic New York Gov. David Paterson ($1,000)
- Former Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell ($1,500)
- Shaun Robinson, former host of “Access Hollywood” ($1,000)
- Justin Rockefeller, tech entrepreneur and great-grandson of John D. Rockefeller ($500)
- Former U.S. Rep. Thomas Rooney (R-Florida), now president and CEO of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association ($1,000)
- Lauren Santo Domingo, co-founder of Moda Operandi, an online fashion retailer ($6,000)
- Jessica Seinfeld, author and wife of Jerry Seinfeld ($6,000)
- Lauren Shuler Donner, a film producer ($6,000)
- Marva Smalls, a Paramount executive ($2,500)
- Alexander Tisch, president and CEO of Loews Hotels ($6,000) and his father, Andrew Tisch, co-chair of the company ($3,000)
- Kirk Wagar, former U.S. ambassador to Singapore under Obama ($6,000)
- Jamar White, founder and CEO of Buffalo Boss, a national restaurant chain ($5,000)