Maryland Gov. Wes Moore leaves no doubt he's an abundance bro

Maryland Governor Wes Moore hinted that he was embracing the controversial abundance agenda in a recent speech in South Carolina. His endorsement of the billionaire-backed drive to have Democrats make the slashing of costs and regulations for big business their agenda in the 2028 presidential campaign has now been made official by the Radio Abundance podcast. Moore's name is atop a list of Democratic elected officials who will appear on an episode entitled "Fascism Comes to America." Of course, there's something humorously ironic about a billionaire-backed podcast calling for more corporate power and profits - at the expense of the democratic process and local control - claiming to be fighting fascism.

Moore's move to join fellow White House aspirants Jared Polis, Ritchie Torres, and Ro Khanna in the abundance lane for 2028 is a remarkable gamble. With that being only a partial list of corporate-backed Democrats who will be crowding into that niche during the primary season, there will be much more competition for staff and donors. Recent polling has shown that "abundance" policies are not popular among Democratic and independent voters. And many prominent progressives in the party have come out strongly against the astroturfed abundance campaign.

This only complicates Moore's task in 2028. Maryland's finances have tanked during his first term, as Moore squandered a budget surplus he inherited from former Gov. Larry Hogan, and is facing a $6 billion deficit by 2030. Despite a much-trumpeted career on Wall Street, and big ticket fundraisers among late-stage capitalist titans on Martha's Vineyard and in the Hamptons, Moore has been unable to attract any major corporations to Maryland. And he has no major policy victories, even as he gears up to run for reelection next year.

That last fact makes running on the abundance agenda even more daunting for Moore. It is progressives who have the momentum and the crowds in the Democratic party right now. Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have had no trouble drawing mobs of progressives to their Fight Oligarchy tour stops, at which Sanders appears to be symbolically passing the torch to AOC. She, in turn, is clearly testing the waters for a potential 2028 presidential run. AOC's agenda may be controversial in many quarters, but she has a concrete set of policies she would seek to implement, including Medicare-for-All, repeal of the Taft-Hartley Act, a federal jobs guarantee, and free college. Even failed vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz has a record of major progressive legislative wins as governor in Minnesota.

Moore, by contrast, is fighting to...become president? He has no signature suite of policies, much less ones that have been signed into law. What legislation has passed during his term has only benefitted small identity groups, leaving out the majority of voters, or raised fees on everyone. Hogan was able to do very little with a hostile, Democrat-controlled legislature - but what little he did usually applied to everyone in the state, like blocking tax hikes and lowering bridge tolls.

That blank slate agenda, combined with abundance bro status, tags Moore as a corporate shill - an identity easy for his rivals to reinforce by emphasizing his Wall Street past, celebrity backers and tycoon associates, and his proposed giveaway of taxpayer money and prime public land to Baltimore developers. Moore would essentially be replicating the Kamala Harris "joy and excitement" campaign of late summer 2024. That didn't work out very well. 

Harris had celebrities (check), billionaire friends like Mark Cuban and Michael Bloomberg [a major financial backer of the abundance movement, coincidentally] (check), and some vague promises (check) about "not going back." Not going back to what? Low inflation? Low gas prices? World peace? 

Ironically, Harris and Walz had their greatest success right at the start of their brief campaign, when her selection of the Minnesota governor as running mate suggested she would be more progressive than Joe Biden, and she rolled out a short list of specific socialist promises like price fixing and giving everyone $25,000 to buy a home. The abundance neoliberals in the press and corporate boardrooms predictably lost their minds, and Harris quickly dropped the concrete policy goals, falling back on a vacuous campaign of "joy," twerking rappers, and the daughter of Uber Villain and war criminal bogeyman Dick Cheney. Progressives and the working class quickly fell off the bandwagon.

Even Moore's pal Oprah couldn't save Harris. Will appearing on Radio Abundance save a foundering Moore? Not likely. For Radio Abundance is the latest example of "every accusation is a confession." Corporations setting our regulations, and seizing power over local decisions away from citizens, is indeed "fascism coming to America."

Will Jawando running for Montgomery County Executive

The 2026 Montgomery County Executive race is starting to heat up. County Councilmember Will Jawando (D - At-Large) officially entered the contest with a launch event last night in Silver Spring. Right off the bat, he has picked up the endorsement of the most-popular politician in Montgomery County, current County Executive Marc Elrich (D). Jawando joins existing Democratic candidates Evan Glass, his At-Large colleague on the Council, and medical assistant Celeste Iroha. Iroha is the only candidate who has actually filed with the Board of Elections to run.

Jawando has been a member of the Council for two terms, beginning in 2018. He is eligible to run for a third Council term, but the open executive seat is encouraging several Councilmembers to cut short their legislative careers to aim for the highest County office now. The executive position is becoming open because Elrich's opponents were successful in convincing a majority of voters to reduce the term limit for that office to two. They haven't been able to get rid of Elrich, as he plans to run for his old At-Large County Council seat next year, and he is almost certain to reclaim it.

If the Elrich endorsement wasn't clear enough, Jawando is seeking to put an early claim on the progressive lane in the executive race. Glass has slightly moved a notch towards the center in recent months. He is clearly seeking the Washington Post editorial board endorsement, which goes to the candidate who is most supportive of real estate developers, and puts on the best "pragmatic centrist" cosplay performance. Alas for Glass, that endorsement is more likely to go to his District 1 colleague on the Council, Andrew Friedson (D). Friedson is not even an official candidate yet, and he already has a million dollars in his campaign account, thanks to developers who not only write him big checks, but who even host entire fundraisers for him.

Jawando, in contrast, has accepted some money from developers in his past campaigns, but has largely been a nemesis for them on the Council. His leading role in getting a limited rent control measure passed has made him a punching bag for developers and their friends in the local press. Blogger and former Council staffer Adam Pagnucco has even blamed Jawando and his rent control-supporting colleagues for national and international residential development interests now "redlining" Montgomery County, as a result of that legislation.

Elrich's endorsement of Jawando is therefore not too surprising. But Jawando has also nabbed the backing of Prince George's County Executive candidate Aisha Braveboy, who is now the most-prominent Democrat in gorgeous Prince George's with the acension of former exec Angela Alsobrooks to the U.S. Senate. That is a solid one-two punch for Jawando in the endorsements race. Unions offer the biggest endorsement prizes, as they often come with mobilization of their members to put boots on the ground, and that is where the rubber usually meets the road in County elections. One union sure to be thrilled with Jawando's entry is the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 35, which went out of its way to endorse Jawando in 2018 and virtually no other candidate that year, an endorsement that majorly helped Jawando clinch the Democratic nomination and go on to victory.

Jawando's support of higher taxes in the FY-2026 budget will certainly be viewed favorable by union officials. Glass and Friedson have come out against Elrich's proposed property and income tax hikes this budget season, despite voting for budgets that contain tax increases in the past. Elrich's consistent support for higher taxes has never hurt him at the ballot box; will it damage Jawando in this race?

He certainly has the best claim to the Elrich lane in the race at this moment. But can he pull off an Elrich-style victory on June 23, 2026? 

That remains to be seen. Elrich was a major political figure, activist, and local elected official in Takoma Park long before he was elected to the Council in 2006. Decades of grassroots activism on hyperlocal issues allowed him to build up a huge base of support and goodwill across the county. Democrats, independents, and Republicans alike who were facing battles against development in their neighborhoods became Elrich fans, at least on growth and zoning issues. Whatever criticism there was of Elrich's views, he has been one of the few to win elected office this century in Montgomery County who was not corrupt or out to amass money and power for personal and political gain.

Jawando's activism and profile have been more national than hyperlocal. As an author, activist, alumnus of the Barack Obama White House, and even as a Councilmember, he has made infinitely more cable TV news appearances than Elrich. Even with two terms on the Council, he does not have the level of neighborhood-centric experience Elrich has parlayed into countywide success. As just one example, Jawando - like Elrich - were among the handful of elected officials who were initially willing to speak out regarding the ongoing desecration of the Moses African Cemetery in Bethesda during campaign season in 2017 and 2018. But once in office, Jawando did not spearhead any major push to investigate or stop it.

On the other hand, he is adopting the progressive label in the race. Montgomery County and Maryland Democratic voters have shown themselves to be extremely progressive in recent elections. Billionaire David Blair went down to defeat against Elrich twice, despite spending a literal fortune on both contests. Maryland Democrats gave the (relatively) moderate and presumed favorite Peter Franchot the boot in favor of progressive Wes Moore in the 2022 gubernatorial primary. And Moore was a newcomer who hadn't even lived in Maryland that many years in total over his lifetime, most recently as resident of New York.

Jawando may be hoping for that kind of vanguard faction to put him narrowly over the top next June, drawing in the younger Bernie/AOC/DSA crowd. He won't get the Post endorsement or the responsible-growth (YIMBYs would say NIMBY) GOP votes that helped Elrich slip past Blair twice. But unlike Glass and Friedson, he has a lane all to himself, barring the entry of an even younger and even more progressive candidate. All three are spending much of their time talking about Donald Trump - not surprising given their own legislative records of failing to attract a major corporate headquarters to the County or solve its highway gridlock or persistent crime wave, while focusing on banning gas powered leaf blowers, plastic bags, and gas stoves. To be successful next June, at some point "Hey, look over there!" will have to give way to proposals to solve actual local issues impacting County residents on a daily basis.

Photo courtesy Will Jawando for Montgomery County