Ben Jealous, a progressive who’s previously served as president of the NAACP, has a shot at becoming Maryland’s first African-American governor — and the third African-American governor in the nation.
In Tuesday’s Democratic primary, Jealous defeated seasoned Prince George’s County official Rushern Baker for the chance to take on popular incumbent Gov. Larry Hogan this fall. If he wins in November, Jealous would become the third African American to hold a state governorship, a landmark milestone as a growing number of candidates of color vie for elected office around the country.
Despite being a first-time political candidate, Jealous dominated a crowded fight for the Democratic nomination, triumphing over a wide range of political veterans including a former adviser to Hillary Clinton and a Maryland state senator. Polls had Jealous and Baker in close range of one another ahead of Tuesday’s election.
Jealous’s win marks a victory for the progressive wing of the party, which hasn’t seen many statewide gains in the primary cycle thus far. Jealous, a longtime community organizer and a partner at Kapor Capital, a venture capital firm, was a Maryland co-chair for Bernie Sanders’s campaign in 2012 and a top 2018 prospect touted by Our Revolution, a Sanders-aligned group.
In the past few months, Jealous has attracted the support of Democratic heavyweights, with Sens. Kamala Harris (CA) and Cory Booker (NJ) turning out to stump for him. Labor groups like Service Employees International United have overwhelmingly backed his candidacy as well.
Jealous has sought to unite Sanders’s populist message with a focus on racial justice. “My path is basically the two communities that I’ve spent my career, the black community and black and brown communities, and the progressive community,” Jealous told Mother Jones.
Maryland’s election of an African-American governor would be a groundbreaking move for the state, where a third of the residents are African American. African-American political leaders like Donna Edwards — who mounted a failed bid against now-Sen. Chris Van Hollen in 2016 — have said that they did not feel the full backing of the Democratic establishment when they’ve run in the past.
Jealous is the second African American to win a Democratic gubernatorial primary in this election cycle. In May, Stacey Abrams also swept her race in Georgia.
Ben Jealous and Rushern Baker. Photo illustration by Slate. Photos by Cheryl Diaz Meyer for the Washington Post via Getty Images and Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post via Getty Images.
Former NAACP president Ben Jealous won the Democratic nomination for Maryland governor on Tuesday, handing progressives another high-profile win in a contest that offered two competing visions for how the party should run this fall.
With the vast majority of the ballots counted, Jealous led his main rival, Prince George’s County executive Rushern Baker, by roughly 10 percentage points—40 percent to 30 percent, in a crowded field. If he can win again in November, Jealous would become the state’s first black governor. But history won’t come easy. Gov. Larry Hogan is widely popular in the state with both Republicans and Democrats, and he will enter the general election as the odds-on favorite. A Washington Post poll earlier this month found Hogan with a 12-percentage-point lead in a hypothetical matchup against the Democrat.
Jealous and Baker, who is also African American, plotted starkly different paths to defeating Hogan this November. Jealous’ strategy echoed the successful primary campaign in Georgia by Stacey Abrams, with a promise to mobilize disaffected liberals, especially voters of color, with calls for Medicare For All, a $15 minimum wage, and tuition-free college funded by ending mass incarceration. Baker shared some—though not all—of Jealous’ progressive agenda, and positioned himself as a pragmatist who could reach across the aisle and win over those moderate voters who helped elect Hogan in 2014 in a state that voted for the Democratic presidential nominee in the past seven elections, and by at least 25 percentage points in the last three.
Jealous’ campaign drew support from national progressives like Sens. Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris, and Cory Booker, as well as outside groups like PowerPAC and the Working Families Party. Meanwhile, Baker, who backed Hillary Clinton in the 2016 primary, had the support of most of the state’s moderate Democratic establishment, including House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, Sen. Chris Van Hollen, and former Gov. Martin O’Malley. The intraparty divide made the contest something of a proxy fight between the two wings of the Democratic Party, one where the battle lines were even more clear than they were in Georgia, where Abrams had the backing of Sanders and Hillary Clinton in her successful quest to become the Democratic nominee for governor. (Abrams also endorsed Jealous, and the two have known each other for a quarter-century.)
The race featured a diverse group of candidates hoping to make history. Krish Vignarajah, a lawyer and former policy director for Michelle Obama who had 8 percent of the vote, was hoping to become the state’s first female governor, and state Sen. Richard Madaleno—who released a TV ad last month in which he kissed his husband and declared, “Take that, Trump,” and who had 6 percent—the state’s first openly gay governor.
The Republican Governors Association wasted little time taking aim at Jealous after he was declared the winner. “Ben Jealous’ radical views make him unfit to serve as governor,” the group said in a statement that doubles as a preview of their general-election strategy. “Ben Jealous is promising to systematically undo all of the progress Maryland has made over the past four years by hiking taxes to never-before-seen levels in order to fund his radical pie-in-the-sky spending plans.”
Jealous, however, has promised to continue on the progressive path he set out on. “Our campaign has always been one of running towards the people, running towards the base of progressives, Democrats, like-minded independents, on a platform that’s about solving big problems for working people,” he told Slate ahead of the primary. “We’ve shown that we can unite the Democratic Party around a progressive platform that empowers working people moving forward together.”
Ben Jealous, a former NAACP president embraced by Sen. Bernie Sanders, decisively defeated Prince George’s County Executive Rushern L. Baker III for the Maryland Democratic gubernatorial nomination Tuesday in a major victory for the party’s progressive wing.
In a victory speech at an African American museum in Baltimore, Jealous, 45, lashed out at Republican Gov. Larry Hogan and said he will triumph in the general election in the fall because he "knows how to build a true people-powered grass-roots campaign." Baker and others conceded.
Jealous received strong backing and outside money from liberals, unions and progressive groups. He offered bold proposals — including state-based universal health care and debt-free college — that he believes will energize voters to defeat Hogan, who has a record-high approval rating in the state.
Hogan, who ran unopposed in the GOP primary, has governed as a moderate and repeatedly distanced himself from President Trump, who is widely disliked in Maryland.
Jealous won strong pluralities in the Baltimore area and did well enough in the populous Washington suburbs to win by a large margin over Baker and the others.
[See full Maryland primary results here]
Baker, a longtime politician, had the endorsement of almost all of the state’s top Democratic elected officials. But he raised less money than Jealous, who was backed by teachers unions and other labor groups who supported Baker in his previous campaigns.
Establishment-backed candidates did well in some other Maryland races, including in Prince George’s County, where State’s Attorney Angela D. Alsobrooks easily won the Democratic nomination to succeed Baker as county executive.
In the closely watched 6th Congressional District, businessman David Trone defeated state Del. Aruna Miller in a contest for the Democratic nomination. Trone will face GOP nominee Amie Hoeber in the race to succeed Rep. John Delaney (D), who resigned to run for president.
In Montgomery, businessman David Blair and progressive County Council member Marc Elrich (At-Large) were locked in a close race for the Democratic nomination for county executive.
But in three closely watched state Senate races, young, progressive Democratic challengers were doing well against Baltimore City incumbents more aligned with the establishment in Annapolis. Del. Cory McCray, 35, beat Sen. Nathaniel J. McFadden, 71; Del. Mary Washington, 56, was slightly ahead of Sen. Joan Carter Conway, 67, who chairs the Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee; and Del. Antonio Hayes, 40, easily defeated Sen. Barbara A. Robinson, 80.
Gubernatorial candidate Ben Jealous responds to Emily Koechlin outside the polling place at Takoma Park Recreation Center. (Bonnie Jo Mount/The Washington Post)
State Dels. Joseph F. Vallario Jr. (D-Prince George's), a longtime lawmaker who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, and Jimmy Tarlau (D-Prince George's) also were ousted by challengers from within their party,and state Sen. Mac Middleton (D-Charles), chair of the Senate Finance Committee, was as well.
In the gubernatorial race, as pre-election polls anticipated, Jealous and Baker did far better than the rest of the field, which included state Sen. Richard S. Madaleno Jr. (Montgomery); Alec Ross, a tech entrepreneur; James L. Shea, former chairman of the Venable law firm; and Krishanti Vignarajah, a former policy director for Michelle Obama.
Appearing before supporters in Baltimore, Jealous said he had spoken to several rivals and vowed to “pull our party together and go out there and beat Larry Hogan.”
Jealous said Hogan’s “go-along-to-get-along policies on almost every issue stand in direct contrast to those I laid out in this campaign.” He said the incumbent “is not ready to run against someone who knows how to build a people-powered, grass-roots campaign.”
In a brief concession speech in College Park, Baker pledged to help Jealous win in November. “Our work is not done,” he said. “The main thing is we need to get a Democrat back in Annapolis. . . . It is about the work we have to do tomorrow.”
Republicans, meanwhile, wasted no time seeking to paint Jealous as too far to the left. The Republican Governors Association said the Democrat’s “radical views make him unfit to serve as governor.” The statement said Jealous wants to raise “taxes to never-before-seen levels in order to fund his radical pie-in-the-sky spending plans.”
Jealous’s victory is an unusual triumph for an outsider over the party establishment in a gubernatorial primary. Such insurgents came up short in Virginia last year and Iowa earlier this month.
His uncompromising approach appealed to Baltimore County voter Lori Edmonds, who said she would “love to see” Jealous challenge Hogan. “Because Hogan is so popular, he really needs someone with as clear a vision as Ben Jealous to go against, and really give the electorate something to chew on.”
Montgomery resident Ann Vermillion picked Jealous over Baker because he “has more energy” and “a fresher outlook.” But, like many Democrats, she said she doesn’t know whether that will be enough for her to support Jealous in November.
“I think Hogan’s doing a great job,” she said.
Jealous’s victory also illustrates the continuing strength of the Baltimore area in Democratic state politics in Maryland, despite population growth in the Washington suburbs.
Jealous, who has family roots in Baltimore and headed the Baltimore-based NAACP, performed better in that part of the state, whereas Baker’s strength was in his home base in Prince George’s.
But Jealous also beat Baker in liberal and populous Montgomery, where Baker had hoped to do well because he was well-known there and had the endorsement of Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett, a close friend and mentor.
Jealous, echoing positions that Sanders took in the 2016 Democratic presidential primary, ran on an uncompromising liberal platform. He wants to pay for health care, tuition and other programs by raising taxes on cigarettes and the wealthiest 1 percent of Marylanders, closing corporate tax loopholes, freeing resources by shrinking prisons, and legalizing and taxing marijuana.
Many top state Democratic officials are concerned those positions will be too far to the left to win in the general election. But Jealous and his supporters say only an uncompromising message will draw sufficient numbers of Democrats to the polls.
To assemble his coalition, Jealous began with a base of liberal voters who supported Sanders in his unsuccessful presidential run two years ago against former secretary of state Hillary Clinton.
He added financial and organizational support from major unions, including the state teachers union and Service Employees International Union, and the Latino advocacy group Casa de Maryland. He received endorsements from well-known African American Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.), as well as comedian Dave Chappelle.
Cosette Burns, 70, a retired social worker in Baltimore, said she backed Jealous because of his background in civil rights, saying: “He’s got a nice track record. He’s been an advocate for education and nondiscrimination.”
Several voters said they found it difficult to research the large number of candidates running in state and local contests. Many waited until the last minute to decide whom to support, or skipped down-ballot races.
Lori Steel of Kensington, a librarian at a private school, said the mounds of literature, phone calls and knocks on her door backfired. “It overwhelmed me and shut me down a bit,” she said after voting at the Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Church.
[Maryland ballot glitch offers lessons in how to respond to a hack]
An administrative error by the state Department of Motor Vehicles meant that as many as 80,000 voters were not registered at the proper polling places or with the correct party affiliations and would have to cast provisional ballots. Those ballots won’t be counted until July 5.
Because of the glitch, the state Democratic Party — which blamed Hogan for the “screw-up” — rescheduled its “unity” news conference, which had been planned for Wednesday morning.
The Democratic gubernatorial candidates had comparatively few differences over policy. All supported more spending on education and mass transit, and increasing the state minimum wage to $15 an hour. They also conducted a generally civil campaign, preferring to focus their attacks on Hogan and Trump rather than on one another.
Prominent Democrats such as former U.S. labor secretary Tom Perez and former state attorney general Doug Gansler chose not to run.
Baker and Jealous were near the top in early polls, along with Kevin Kamenetz, the Baltimore county executive whose death in early May after a heart attack scrambled the race.
Baker had widespread support from the party establishment, including Leggett, former governor Martin O’Malley and U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen. O’Malley and Leggett visited polling places with him Tuesday.
Baker campaigned primarily on his record in Prince George’s, where he has overseen a burst of economic development that included the opening of the MGM National Harbor casino. He also restored a level of integrity to the county executive’s office after his predecessor, Jack B. Johnson, was convicted on federal corruption charges.
But he was embarrassed by school scandals that led to the announcement last month that his handpicked schools chief executive would resign.
Jealous railed against Baker’s record on schools during the campaign. But in his victory speech, he pay tribute to Baker and the other Democratic candidates, and called for a united front in facing Hogan in the general election.
“This campaign is about seizing a moment to build a movement to make sure that everyone in Maryland moves forward, no matter what happens in Donald Trump’s Washington,” he said. “Larry Hogan has no idea what’s about to hit him.”
Former NAACP chief Ben Jealous won Maryland’s Democratic primary for governor Tuesday, promising to deliver a progressive agenda that makes college free, legalizes marijuana and raises the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour.
Bolstered by support in the Baltimore region, spending from outside groups and an aggressive union-backed turnout machine, Jealous emerged from the six-way primary as Democrats’ bet to take on popular Republican Gov. Larry Hogan in November.
His victory over fellow front-runner Prince George’s County Executive Rushern L. Baker III, who was backed by the state’s political establishment, demonstrated the growing influence of the progressive wing of the Maryland Democratic Party. His win was part of a wave of victories against establishment candidates in state government.
“Our goal is to not just win an election but to build a movement, which will allow us to lead into law the new agenda that this state so desperately needs,” Jealous told supporters at his Baltimore victory party.
“I know there is skepticism that Larry Hogan can be beaten. Well, we’ve got a message for those who think this race is already over. Larry Hogan will lose in November because he is not ready to run against someone who knows how to build a true people-powered grassroots campaign.”
Maryland has never elected an African-American governor, and Jealous’ victory is just the second time the state has nominated a black man for the job.
Voters head to the polls on Tuesday, June 26 to cast their ballots for candidates in several highly contested races.
“I think he can get not just the state, but Baltimore City, back in line,” said Damon Lann, a 46-year-old corrections office from West Baltimore who supported Jealous.
Baker, in a concession speech in College Park, said he was going to return to life as a private citizen after two terms as county executive and two terms in the General Assembly. Supporters were passing out signs that said “Vote for Democrats.”
“I have nothing to be sad about. It is not a sad night for me,” Baker told them. “I’m going to walk out of here very pleased with the career I have had.”
In his victory speech, Jealous spoke of a young Baltimore boy who said he’s seen too many people die, a teenage girl from the Eastern Shore who said she’s buried three classmates from the opioid epidemic, immigrants whose children wake up in a cold sweat and workers with multiple jobs who fear economic insecurity.
“This campaign is about seizing the moment to build a movement to make sure that everyone moves forward, no matter what happens in Donald Trump’s Washington,” he said.
Jealous’ campaign will provide voters with a stark contrast from Hogan in November, both in policy and style.
Hogan’s enduring popularity makes him a formidable opponent, even in a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans two to one. Recent polls show as many as a quarter of Maryland Democrats intend to support the Republican governor regardless of who won Tuesday night.
Some Democrats who voted for Jealous said they were considering crossing party lines to vote for Hogan.
Rushern Baker, who conceded the Maryland Democratic primary race for governor, answers a couple questions about supporting Ben Jealous and a decision about support choice. (Karl Merton Ferron, Baltimore Sun video) Rushern Baker, who conceded the Maryland Democratic primary race for governor, answers a couple questions about supporting Ben Jealous and a decision about support choice. (Karl Merton Ferron, Baltimore Sun video) SEE MORE VIDEOS
"Like several Democrats, I don't have any real problems with Hogan," said Jo Willman, a 69-year-old from Gaithersburg. "He's proven himself to work on the issues and not the politics. He works across the aisle. If that's what we want people to do, who cares if it's a Democrat or a Republican?"
Hogan’s campaign manager, Jim Barnett, took aim at Jealous’ platform, calling it “risky” and predicting the Democrat would usher in “bitter partisanship.”
“The choice before voters could not be clearer: In Governor Hogan, they find a steady hand who has worked in a bipartisan way to move Maryland in the right direction,” Barnett said.
Jealous and his running mate, former Democratic Party chairwoman Susie Turnbull, cast themselves as community organizers and promised to aggressively turn out voters in November. Baltimore Mayor Catherine E. Pugh and U.S. Rep. Elijah E. Cummings joined the Jealous victory party.
The election caps an unusual political season in which many voters were undecided about the governor’s race until the final weeks of the campaign. The crowded field diffused interest in the race and ultimately splintered the vote.
Maryland primary 2018: Election results »
The contest attracted a diverse group of Democrats. In addition to Baker and Jealous, the race featured state Sen. Richard S. Madaleno Jr., the state’s first openly gay senator; Krish Vignarajah, an immigrant, new mother and former Michelle Obama policy aide; Baltimore lawyer Jim Shea, and tech entrepreneur Alec Ross.
One of the top contenders in the race, Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz, died suddenly of cardiac arrest on May 10. His name remained on the ballot, and Jealous remembered him fondly during his speech.
“We miss his wit and wisdom and we will never forget him,” Jealous said.
Democrats promised weeks ago to support whoever emerged from the primary and have planned a “unity rally” for this week outside the governor’s mansion in Annapolis.
Party leaders are planning an all-hands-on-deck effort to dislodge Hogan from office.
Analysts say they have reason for concern. Pollster Patrick Gonzales’s recent survey, for example, showed the Republican governor led all his Democratic challengers by double digits.
“Hogan starts off as extremely popular and the favorite but by no means has put this thing away,” Gonzales said.
Goucher College political scientist Mileah Kromer said the Jealous victory shows the more liberal wing of the party is ascendant. She said Jealous presents a challenge for Hogan because he can attract national attention and money.
“At a time when we’re talking about ‘resistance Democrats’ being energized, Jealous is not wrong when he says people want a civil rights leader to challenge Trump,” she said.
