Wes Moore's Cabinet will tell us a lot about What's Next
Moore's first appointments emphasize change. But trouble will quickly loom for this inexperienced group.
Given that he is a neophyte to public office, Governor-elect Wes Moore has no track record of surrounding himself with political allies. He has no legislative record. He has no record of hiring staff. He has no experience building political coalitions to achieve results.
When it comes to becoming a governor, Wes Moore is a complete tableau rosa. Which is why his cabinet appointments will be among the most important things that he does.
The Governor-elect has already unveiled his Transition Team, which will provide some insight into his thinking. Thanks to Dylan Diggs for the graphic.
A few things are notable here:
Moore’s team is VERY heavy on Baltimore area representation. Fourteen members are from the City or the County alone.
Cheryl Bost, President of the Maryland State Education Association, is on there since the MSEA owns the Maryland Democratic Party lock, stock, and barrel.
The Eastern Shore and Western Maryland get relatively short shrift. Only three members are representing the Eastern Shore, while Allegany, Carroll, Garrett Frederick, and Washington Counties have ONE between them.
The team is heavy on private sector business leaders who would seem to be able to profit from access to the Governor-elect.
Only one Republican, outgoing State Senator Addie Eckhardt, is participating.
Only four other sitting members of the General Assembly.
Former Governor Parris Glendening is serving, but not former Governor Martin O’Malley.
There will certainly be people drawn from this transition team to serve in the Moore Administration. But this team seems to be drawn primarily from non-governmental sources as opposed to governmental ones. Will that translate to the cabinet? It will be interesting to see. Typically, when a Republican becomes Governor the cabinet is primarily sourced from the public sector due to the dearth of Republicans in statewide office. Democratic cabinets tend to lean a little heavier on politicians since there are so many of them and Democrats can fill the bench pretty easily thanks to their consistent gerrymandering.
Moore however campaigned as a change agent and continues to harp upon that theme as the transition takes place. His first appointees announced today indicated that he is emphasizing his push for change:
Gov.-elect Wes Moore (D) is turning to a fellow Baltimore social entrepreneur to help him run state government.
Moore will announce Monday that Fagan Harris, president and CEO of Baltimore Corps, a nonprofit employment and grantmaking agency, will become his chief of staff in the State House.
Harris and Moore co-founded the organization a decade ago.
Moore is visiting his transition team’s new office in Annapolis on Monday afternoon to announce his intention to bring Harris aboard, along with four other key hires for his administration:
State House Majority Leader Eric Luedtke (D-Montgomery) will become chief legislative officer;
Helene Grady, vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer at Johns Hopkins University, will become secretary at the Department of Budget and Management;
Tisha Edwards, a former top official at Baltimore City Hall who was the Moore campaign’s chief of staff, will become appointments secretary;
Amanda LaForge, an election lawyer and veteran of former Gov. Parris Glendening’s administration, will become chief counsel.
These appointees do tell us a lot. And here’s why.
Chief of Staff: A Chief of Staff of course makes sure that the Governor’s staff and the operation of the Administration work. Chiefs of Staff can also, but not always, help smooth things over on the political side as well with fellow Democrats. Moore follows the well-heeled tradition of bringing somebody from their personal life that has known them for a long time. But if Moore wanted to get stuff done, he should have filled the role with somebody like Don Mohler who served as Kevin Kamenetz’s Chief of Staff and then as Baltimore County Executive after Kamenetz’s untimely passing.
Chief Legislative Officer: Maintaining a relationship with the First Floor of the State House is important, doubly so for a Governor of the majority party who has never worked with these Senators or Delegates in any professional capacity. Governor Larry Hogan during his term used former legislators like Keiffer Mitchell or Andrew Cassilly in this role. Moore went this route with Luedtke. The Luedtke appointment sends a signal that Moore will pursue a radical left-wing policy agenda and continue the Democratic tradition of ensuring that the unions that own them get everything they want. I find it hard to believe that Luedtke will be the best person for this job, considering how insufferable he has been for over a decade.
Moore would have been better served to pick Jake Weissmann, former Chief of Staff to the late Senate President Mike Miller, who knows the Legislative Process inside and out.
Secretary of Appointments: Personnel is policy. And the Appointments Secretary fills those key at-will roles throughout the Administration. This usually is a sleepy little office, as Democrats and the media forget it exists until a Republican is elected Governor and then everybody is suddenly very concerned that there are so many (6,000+) positions in State Government that serve at the pleasure of the Governor. The Tisha Edwards appointment means just another Democratic apparatchik is in place to make sure the checks keep coming to those chosen Democrats with a job.
Secretary of Budget: It’s no coincidence that Governor Hogan appointed former State Senator David Brinkley to this post and that Brinkley has served for the entirety of the Hogan Administration. You want to have somebody here who understands the numbers and understands the legislative budget process or else nothing gets done. I am no fan of former State Senator Rich Madaleno, but Moore would be hard-pressed to find anybody more qualified to push his budgetary agenda than him. And yet, he handed this position over to a private sector individual with no service in state government. In a state with an impending budget crisis, that is a recipe for disaster.
There are three other important spots that remain.
Secretary of Health: Most Marylanders probably didn’t even realize we had a Secretary of Health before COVID. Most people probably still don’t, but the Health Department has gotten a lot more attention and scrutiny than it had during the before times. Moore would be wise to appoint somebody here who is not one of the sky-is-falling County Health Officers that littered Maryland during the pandemic, and appoint someone with a balanced approach to dealing with statewide health issues both present and future.
Secretary of Transportation: Transportation is on everyone’s mind, between traffic, the Beltway Expansion, and the insistence on the unnecessary Red Line. That will be important but, with the appointment coming during the middle of winter, it will also be important to find somebody who can keep state highways clear during the snow. I would suggest Moore not use this spot for political purposes, but put an experienced transportation manager in this role as Governor Hogan did throughout his administration.
Who is the Token Republican? There’s usually at least one appointee across party lines at the Cabinet Level. Who will Wes Moore’s pick be? Addie Eckardt would seem like the obvious pick here, with her being on the transition team. She would be an uncontroversial pick for Health Secretary. Wayne Gilchrest may also get a look at the Department of Natural Resources, though he is hardly a “bipartisan” pick in the eyes of Republicans these days.
The million-dollar question with Moore’s cabinet will be this. Does he staff his Administration with change agents who can bring about the changes he seeks? Or will he staff his administration with the typical Democratic political hacks who keep all of the Democratic interests groups fat and happy? So far, it looks like he is staffing up with as many outsiders as possible. That may be a recipe of meeting a campaign promise, but it certainly does not lead one to believe that the Moore Administration is going to be very successful in improving state government or navigating the legislative process.
Rick Meehan, mayor of Ocean City, has been reported to be on Moore's transition team as well.