Bridge collapse poses the first major challenge for Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, a Democratic rising star
After a Baltimore bridge collapse killed six people and shut down an international port, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore has stepped into the national spotlight this week, leading the response to the tragic, unforeseen catastrophe.
BALTIMORE — After a bridge collapse in Baltimore killed six people and shut down an international port, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore has stepped into the national spotlight this week, leading the response to the catastrophe.
Moore, a political newcomer before he launched his 2022 campaign for governor, has already been identified as a rising star in the Democratic Party, joining a deep bench of Democratic governors whose names have been floated as potential 2028 presidential contenders.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore at a news conference near the scene where a container ship collided with a support on the Francis Scott Key Bridge, in Dundalk, Md., on March 26, 2024. Matt Rourke / AP Moore’s allies say the qualities and experience that led him to run for governor are the same ones that could help guide him through this crisis and into national prominence.“I think leaders show who they are in times of crisis. Wes Moore has always been someone who runs toward the problem,” Brian Adam Jones, who was a longtime adviser to Moore when he led the Robin Hood Foundation, told NBC News, highlighting Moore’s experience as a combat veteran and the CEO of one of the largest anti-poverty organizations in New York City.
Jones echoed the feelings of other Moore allies and Democratic strategists who argue that Moore is uniquely positioned to address a complex crisis, which features a vessel that struck a bridge, eliminated a critical piece of Baltimore infrastructure, tied up traffic across the region, shut down an international port and led to the deaths of six construction workers.
Just after 1 a.m. on Tuesday, the cargo ship Dali crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. By 6 a.m., the governor had declared a state of emergency. Since then, Moore has been all over Baltimore, between the site of the downed bridge, speaking to victims’ families and observing a moment of silence at the Baltimore Orioles’ opening day game on Thursday.
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