Democratic candidates for governor pledged Tuesday night to leverage state and federal dollars to fuel economic and workforce development, revitalize public transportation efforts, fight rising crime and overhaul Maryland\u2019s public education if elected.<\/p>\n
In a forum that featured seven of the crowded 10-person primary field, the candidates often agreed on a range of issues while trying to differentiate themselves by stressing their varying levels of government and private sector work.<\/p>\n
Rushern Baker, the runner-up in the 2018 gubernatorial primary, routinely framed his answers as coming from someone who \u201cknows what they\u2019re doing the moment they walk into that office.\u201d He served two terms leading Prince George\u2019s County as chief executive, where he said he turned around lagging economic development and crime.<\/p>\n
Wes Moore, an author, nonprofit leader, Army captain and White House Fellow who\u2019s never held public office, portrayed himself and his running mate, Aruna Miller, a former state lawmaker, as the most qualified to step into the role.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are the only ticket in this field that has actually led in the executive branch, the legislative branch, the private sector, the nonprofit sector and the military,\u201d he said to applause from the crowd of roughly 100 spectators.<\/p>\n
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<\/picture>Maryland Democratic gubernatorial candidates participate in an economic development forum hosted by Coppin State University in Baltimore on Tuesday, April 26. <\/span>(Ulysses Mu\u00f1oz\/The Baltimore Sun)<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n Tom Perez, who served on Montgomery County Council, spoke of his work prosecuting civil rights cases and enhancing \u201cexperiential learning\u201d initiatives in the Obama administration as he urged the crowd to study what each candidate has done and ask themselves: \u201cWho can I trust to deliver on these critical issues?\u201d<\/p>\n The forum, held before an in-person and online audience at Coppin State University, was hosted by the university\u2019s College of Business Center for Strategic Entrepreneurship and moderated by WMAR news anchor Kelly Swoope.<\/p>\n Also joining the crowded stage were former nonprofit executive Jon Baron, state Comptroller Peter Franchot, former state Attorney General Doug Gansler and retired University of Maryland faculty member Jerome Segal.<\/p>\n Offering mostly broader policy goals rather than specific plans, the candidates largely aligned on everything from putting more money into job training and apprenticeship programs to restarting the cross-Baltimore Red Line light rail project Republican Gov. Larry Hogan killed when he entered office in 2015.<\/p>\n On education, they mostly agreed on implementing the 10-year, $3.8 billion Blueprint for Maryland\u2019s Future plan to overhaul public education, with Baker saying the need is even greater now that the pandemic has put students years behind. Franchot said he\u2019d go beyond the plan to also \u201cfree our teachers from the burden of standardized testing.\u201d<\/p>\n Economic plans included Baron\u2019s emphasis on connecting employers with workers through state-sponsored apprenticeships and employer-paid internships. And they included a repeated point from Segal \u2014 who was recently registered as a socialist \u2014 that the state needs full guaranteed employment.<\/p>\n Weekdays<\/p>\n Keep up to date with Maryland politics, elections and important decisions made by federal, state and local government officials.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Moore, meanwhile, highlighted his time as CEO of the Robin Hood nonprofit, where he said he allocated more than $650 million and worked with 1,600 organizations to fight poverty.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t need an explanation or a white paper to understand what we\u2019re talking about,\u201d Moore said.<\/p>\n On rising crime in the Baltimore area, Gansler, the former attorney general, often reiterated his law enforcement bona fides.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you like having 400 murders a year, if you like what\u2019s going on in the criminal justice system in Baltimore, you should seriously consider voting for one of my colleagues,\u201d Gansler said in his closing statement.<\/p>\n Baron said answers to crime will be found not in regularly practiced government programs, but with a detailed reevaluation of which programs work and which don\u2019t.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s procedural justice training, implicit bias training, use of force training, de-escalation training. Which of those actually work? Which of those work best to increase community trust and reduce police use of force?\u201d Baron said. \u201cWe don\u2019t really know yet.\u201d<\/p>\n The forum was one of many occurring in the Baltimore region and beyond for what is considered a wide-open race for the Democratic nomination in the July 19 primary. Hogan, a two-term Republican, is term-limited and not seeking reelection.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"Maryland](\"https:\/\/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-tronc.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/X7P4E2JCCZFRXFR43MAU42WHMQ.jpg\")
<\/div>\nMaryland Policy & Politics<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n