The midterm elections are great for Democrats everywhere, but some prevail more decisively than others: Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, for example, was re-elected with about 63% of the vote.
Voters drove Republicans out of office and kept Democrats like Moore in power in part because of concerns over a number of key issues, including the rising cost of living, the war with Iran and the growing dominance of artificial intelligence and data centers. The question now is how Democrats can best use their new power to act on the tide that brought them to power.
For Moore, the stakes may be especially high: He has often been mentioned as a potential Democratic presidential candidate in 2028, but speculation has not quite tipped him off.
America, actually Host Astead Herndon spoke with Moore about his vision for how Democrats should move forward. As Moore said, now is a time when the party must act quickly on the issues that most motivate voters.
Below are excerpts from their conversation, edited for length and clarity. There’s a lot more to the full show, so listen America, actually No matter where you get your podcasts or watch them on Vox’s YouTube channel.
Reducing costs is a top priority for voters, and frankly, that’s where they punish Trump the most. What’s the most important thing Democrats can do to address people’s cost of living issues?
Actually move quickly to solve the problem. No more studying. No more 10-year research reports. Be quick. For example, in Maryland, we’ve had permitting reforms to speed up the construction of affordable housing, right? I don’t need a decade of research papers to tell me we have a problem with affordable housing.
Get more housing around transit. Increase efforts in bus-oriented development. If it’s state land, don’t tell me why we can’t do something. It is state land. Do something about it.
The reason we have the largest investment in child care in the history of our state is because when you look at the fact that people spend thirty and forty percent of their wages on child care and know how much of an impact that actually makes, it’s crazy. [them]. So there are some steps we can take now to address this issue.
But I also think there are things we need Washington to do. For example, natural gas prices: There is no regulator that affects the price of natural gas. We just need to stop fighting stupid wars. No governor affects state energy policy or state grocery prices. What we need to do is stop allowing illegal tariff policies to happen. So I do think Washington Democrats have to do something, and they need to do it quickly. But I also don’t think we need to wait for them to be able to put things in place that we know actually work.
I wonder what Medicare for All means to you. Does the government provide insurance?
If you look at what we’ve done in Maryland, we’ve actually been able to come up with a platform through our total cost of care [Model]. We’re actually working with our hospitals. Our hospitals have unified budgets so they can ensure people get the care they need.
This goes a long way in helping to break the cost curve. Maryland is one of the only states in the country where health care costs have actually declined, [while] Also able to increase coverage.
Much of the Democrats’ affordability message came from Mamdani’s victory. I remember him telling me that one thing he would never change was his belief that billionaires shouldn’t exist. I want to pose this question to you. Do you think billionaires should exist?
I can’t sleep about the number of billionaires in our society. I literally lose sleep over the number of children growing up in poverty. I think those [do] There is a responsibility, a responsibility to support and uplift those who don’t have it and create pathways for them.
In our state, we actually cut taxes for the middle class. We cut taxes for veterans. I said [to wealthy Marylanders]you need to invest more to make sure we’re doing what we’re doing: With the fastest public safety turnaround story in the United States of America, math and reading scores in our public schools are currently at a five-year high. I do ask wealthy Marylanders to invest a little more to make sure we get these results.
I want to continue to Iran. You served in Afghanistan and are a veteran. As we think about the upcoming Democratic Congress, should they continue to fund a war that Americans largely believe is not in their interest?
No, they should never have funded it in the first place.
I’ve heard the argument that this puts soldiers behind.
No, because we’re talking about a president who unilaterally started a war without even seeking authorization from Congress. The president does not have the authority to wage war on his own. This is stipulated in the constitution. Congress is the only body with the authority to do so. Let’s be honest, this Congress is so obsessed with the aura of the President of the United States that they are not leaders; they are cheerleaders.
Part of the problem is that this Congress needs to be held accountable, and I think that’s exactly what happened on Tuesday. But I think about my experience, right? I served in Afghanistan. I lead the Soldiers of the 82nd Airborne Division, and when we go there, we believe we understand what’s at stake and what needs to happen. This is about the Taliban, and the Taliban can no longer run Afghanistan after 9/11. Twenty years later, trillions of dollars spent, and thousands of American service members dead, you know who’s in charge of Afghanistan now? Taliban.
So once again we are dragging ourselves into another forever war. The problem is that our Congress is not actually asserting its authority to keep this administration in check. I think Congress needs to get this done within the first hundred days, [but] Within the first hundred hours. Congress needs to assert its authority and say to the President of the United States: This needs to end.
The data center also experienced a terrible night on Tuesday. But I still hear a lot of Democrats saying that AI has a place in the future economy. Is there a place for pro-AI Democrats in the big tent?
I’m very concerned about what we’re seeing from artificial intelligence, and I know a lot of Americans are concerned. I’m hopeful about the promise that AI brings to areas like health care and the promise that AI brings to areas like education. But I also know that there need to be guardrails.
What we’ve seen from Donald Trump and these guys is that there are no guardrails. They just let it do what it does. I don’t think this is the right answer. I think this is very dangerous.
I don’t think the answer is to tell them, “Guys, mind yourselves, because that’s going to get us the right answer.” That’s why in Maryland, we actually have guidelines in place on how to protect us from artificial intelligence. This includes things like protecting our employees. This includes things like protecting our wallets. This includes things like protecting our children.
We’ve compiled some of the strictest guidelines in the country, which state that they must pay for all their own energy and all upgrades. Our taxpayers don’t pay a penny for this. They cannot pollute our air or contaminate our water. They need to comply with all environmental guidelines. They need to hire local union workers. Just as important, we need to make sure the people of Maryland have control, not the data center companies, not the Trump administration. That control belongs to us.
About half of Maryland’s local jurisdictions have banned or suspended [data centers]. I said the country will never be above you. If you have a ban or suspension, that’s done because the control goes to the locals.