Pittman supporting Moore’s bid for governor

Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman became the first Democratic county executive to weigh in on the 2022 governor’s race, throwing his support behind Wes Moore on Wednesday.

Pittman said he had planned to stay out of the campaign, until he met Moore and came away impressed.

“His breadth of real world experience and extraordinary ability to connect with people of diverse backgrounds will engage new people in the political process and move our state forward as one people,” Pittman said in a statement.

Pittman joined Moore for an endorsement announcement outside the State House in Annapolis on Wednesday. Moore’s campaign also released a video on social media, showing the two men along the water.

“I read his books and I watched you work and I can tell you that Wes has a life experience and an ability to lead that I never thought that we would have in a candidate for governor,” Pittman said in the video. “It would be irresponsible of me not to get behind Wes.”

Moore is one of nine Democrats who have announced a run for governor in 2022.

Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, is in his second term in office and is barred from running again due to term limits.

Moore is an author and former nonprofit executive who stepped down from running the Robin Hood Foundation, a New York-based anti-poverty group, to launch his campaign for governor. He’s also a veteran who served with the U.S. Army in Afghanistan, worked in finance and spent a year working in the federal government through a White House fellowship.

Moore said in a statement that he appreciates Pittman’s support “because I have seen him work on the issues families in Maryland face.”

Pittman managed an upset victory over then-County Executive Steve Schuh, a Republican, in 2018. He’s running for re-election as county executive in 2022.

The other Democratic candidates for governor are: Comptroller Peter Franchot; former Prince George’s County Executive Rushern L. Baker III, who ran in 2018; former Attorney General Doug Gansler, who ran in 2014; former U.S. Labor Secretary Tom Perez; former U.S. Education Secretary John King; Jon Baron, who works in public policy; tech entrepreneur

Mike Rosenbaum; and Ashwani Jain, who held a post in the Obama administration.

There also are three announced Republican candidates: Del. Dan Cox; state Commerce Secretary Kelly Schulz; and anti-tax advocate Robin Ficker. Former Lt. Gov. Michael Steele also is considering a run and formed an exploratory committee and fundraising committee.

The deadline to sign up to run for office is Feb. 22, and the primary elections will get under way with early voting starting on June 16 with election day on June 28.