Moore Pledges a ‘Fearless’ Administration
Governor-elect Unveils Transition Team at Campus Event
By Liam Farrell
Wes Moore, the governor-elect of Maryland, announces his transition team during a press conference at the University of Maryland's School of Public Policy.
Photos by Stephanie S. Cordle
Using the University of Maryland as a backdrop for his first official event as governor-elect, Wes Moore unveiled his transition team today and called it the beginning of an administration that will be just as “fearless” as the state’s flagship higher education institution.
“We could not frankly think of a more appropriate place,” Moore said on the rooftop deck of the new School of Public Policy Building. “We are going to move fast. We are going to be bold. We are going to be fearless, and we are going to make sure in this moment that Maryland leads.”
Abby Jablonski '25 greets Moore. The Michigan native said she voted in Maryland for the first time this week—including for him.
Moore, a former nonprofit executive, veteran and author, will be Maryland’s first Black governor. He was joined at the event by his running mate, lieutenant governor-elect Aruna Miller, as well as UMD officials such as President Darryll J. Pines, School of Public Policy Dean Robert Orr and Eric Luedtke, the Maryland House majority leader and an associate clinical professor at the university.
Ken Ulman, UMD’s chief strategy officer for economic development and former Howard County executive, will be a transition team co-chair along with Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks; Shelonda Stokes, president of the Downtown Partnership of Baltimore; and Mary Tydings, the campaign’s former treasurer.
“We want to be able to create a team that’s inclusive and reflective of the entire state … to develop these policies that all Marylanders are going to benefit from,” Miller said. “Those closest to the challenge are closest to the solution.”
Moore, whose wife, Dawn Moore, graduated from UMD in 1997, posed with students for selfies and took their questions at the event. He encouraged them to get involved—“We’re taking resumes right now if y’all have them”—and said the new administration will be looking for their input as it prepares to take office in January.
“The reason we are here is because of young people. It was young people who saw this campaign and who saw us before anybody else did,” said Moore. “We are going to make sure it’s the voices of young people that are going to be heard and ring loud.”
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