Politics

As President Joe Biden faces mounting questions about his age and mental acuity from within the Democratic Party — and increasing calls to step down from his reelection bid — Maryland Gov. Wes Moore is standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the president. That effort continued Monday, with Moore joining Biden and campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon on a conference call with Biden supporters.

President Joe Biden stood firm Monday against calls for him to drop his reelection candidacy and called for an end to the intraparty drama that has torn apart Democrats since his dismal debate performance last month, as key lawmakers expressed support for him to remain in the 2024 presidential race. As anxious congressional Democrats returned to Washington weighing whether to work to revive his campaign or to try to edge him out, Biden sent them an open letter aiming to silence their skepticism of his fitness to lead the country for another four years.

A special election to fill a vacant at-large Prince George’s County Council seat could cost an estimated $1.3 million, the county Board of Elections was told Monday. Election Administrator Wendy Honesty-Bey said that is just the cost of running the election – it does not include expenses such as printing ballots and training about 400 election judges who will be needed. She said after the meeting that those costs will be split with the state.

New parents in Baltimore could receive a $1,000 “baby bonus” if voters approve a proposal that aims to help reduce childhood poverty from birth with a modest one-time cash payment. A group of Baltimore teachers is behind the effort. Organizers recently secured the necessary 10,000 signatures to bring the question to voters as a ballot initiative in November.

As hundreds of families gathered to celebrate the Fourth of July holiday at a local park here, many sported patriotic outfits full of red, white and blue and expressed their excitement about seeing fireworks. But in interviews with over a dozen Latino attendees, hardly anyone shared that excitement about the presidential election that’s four months away.

Gov. Wes Moore met on Monday with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to discuss business opportunities between Maryland and Canada. “I jumped at the chance,” Moore said in an interview after the meeting at the Canadian Embassy in Washington. “Whether it’s agriculture, whether it’s high tech and cyber, whether it’s construction work, Canada is a very important partner to the state of Maryland.

A new frozen dessert is soon coming to Taharka Brothers Ice Cream shops. The inspiration? Maryland Gov. Wes Moore. The politician pitched the idea of a vanilla, Berger cookie dough and peanut butter flavor over social media last month in response to a Ben & Jerry’s post that said Moore “got it right” in his pardoning of more than 175,000 people formerly convicted of cannabis-related offenses.

When he signed an executive order advancing the state’s pollution reduction plan last month, including a call to phase in zero-emission standards for heating systems, Gov. Wes Moore (D) used words like “bold” and “ambitious.” Matt Rusteika thinks that might be a reach. He says many homeowners already have heat pumps, a popular type of zero-emission heating that is not new technology.