Wes Moore is now the 63rd governor of the state of Maryland, the first time in history that feat has been achieved. On hand for the well-attended and star-studded ceremony in the state’s capital city was Oprah Winfrey, who has ties to the region.
Wes Moore, 44, was sworn in during a lavish ceremony in Annapolis, Md. with Winfrey introducing the military veteran and Maryland native where she reminded attendees that she found her footing as a television news reporter in nearby Baltimore at WJZ-TV, a CBS affiliate station.
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Oprah, along with President Biden and former President Obama, endorsed Moore during his campaign. Although he has never held public office, Moore is a seasoned businessman and philanthropist who served as CEO of the Robin Hood Foundation, an organization focused on fighting poverty in New York City. While running for governor, Moore made that as well as protecting reproductive rights in Maryland two of his major issues.
“I know that, with Wes Moore as your governor, Maryland’s best days lie ahead,” Oprah said when introducing Moore at today’s inauguration. The state has a significant place in Oprah’s heart; she moved to Baltimore at just 22 years old to work as co-anchor of WJZ-TV’s 6 o’clock news. “When I moved to Maryland, I had no idea really who I was, or what an Oprah was,” she said during the inauguration speech. “But I will tell you something: Maryland is where I figured it out.”
Local outlet WBAL-TV published the full transcript of Gov. Moore’s speech and we’ll share a portion of the speech as prepared below.
Gov. Moore:
You’ve elected me to serve as your governor, but the work, will be done together. Now there will be skeptics, who will say that we cannot rise above the toxic partisanship we see all too often in today’s politics, where people care more about where the idea came from than is it a good idea. Those voices told me at the beginning of my campaign, “You don’t understand how politics works.” To them I said and I say, “We must govern on big principles instead of petty differences.”
To them I said and I say, we must form broad coalitions that bring people together rather than scare them. I said and I say, the urgency of the moment demands a different way of serving the people.
While I led paratroopers, do you know what question I never asked my soldiers, what’s your political party?
I will govern the same way: For all Marylanders. For those who did not vote for me, I will work to earn your support; for those who did, I will work to keep it.
Congratulations to Gov. Wes Moore.
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Photo: Chip Somodevilla / Getty
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