Maryland Governor Wes Moore's positioning as a worker-friendly Democrat is taking on water, with union officials describing an administration that talks well but delivers poorly. The Maryland State and D.C. AFL-CIO has declined to endorse his reelection campaign this year — a pointed retreat from its 2022 backing — and Baltimore/Washington International Airport food service workers launched a "Poor Because of Moore" campaign this month, saying Moore has not done enough to help them win higher wages.
AFL-CIO Backs Away After Questionnaire Goes Unanswered
Donna Edwards, president of the Maryland State and DC AFL-CIO, told Axios that Moore's team did not return the endorsement questionnaire, a baseline requirement the group says must be met before any endorsement is considered. But the damage runs deeper than a missed form: sources told Axios that no one at the group's spring meeting spoke up in favor of backing Moore, suggesting the estrangement is collective, not procedural.
The questionnaire dispute has itself become contested ground inside Moore's orbit. Dyana Forester, Moore's senior director of labor relations, said the state AFL-CIO had advised Moore's team against submitting one because endorsement was considered unlikely regardless. Another Moore aide contradicted her directly, calling that account wrong and describing recent conversations with the group as productive.
Airport Workers, Building Trades, and AFSCME Add to the Ledger
Tracy Lingo — a vice president of the Maryland state AFL-CIO and president of Unite Here Local 7, which represents BWI Airport food service workers — told Axios that Moore has "been pretty antagonistic," and questioned whether the governor's team is simply too focused on a presidential run to govern effectively. The "Poor Because of Moore" campaign is a deliberate effort to put a political price tag on stalled wage negotiations with airport concessionaires.
Building trades unions have separately raised concerns about whether the reconstruction of the Francis Scott Key Bridge will proceed under a project labor agreement. AFSCME Maryland Council 3, representing public service workers, also failed to reach a salary deal with the Moore administration by its December deadline, rejecting the state's offer as too low.
Allies Remain, but the 2022 Primary Wound Has Not Fully Closed
Moore retains meaningful labor support. The firefighters union and the Maryland State Education Association have endorsed his reelection, and Jeff Buddle of the Professional Fire Fighters of Maryland said Moore's administration has been more beneficial to his members than any governor he can recall. Moore's team points to raising Maryland's minimum wage to $15 an hour ahead of schedule and boosting pay for state employees as proof of a pro-worker record.
The current friction nonetheless carries a historical charge. When Moore won the 2022 Democratic primary, most state unions backed Tom Perez, who served as U.S. labor secretary under President Obama. Maryland insiders told Axios that some of that ill will persists on both sides, even as Moore has repaired ties with a number of those unions — including SEIU Local 500 — in the years since.
The structural problem for a 2028 run is clear: organized labor is central to the Democratic coalition, and labor officials in early primary states maintain close ties to their Maryland counterparts. A governor who cannot consolidate his home base on the labor question before the primary calendar opens is carrying a liability he has not yet resolved.