Governor Moore: Where Were You During Session by Clayton Mitchell

You say you got a real solution
Well, you know…
We’d all love to see the plan
      – The Beatles (“Revolution”)

Governor Wes Moore would like the public to believe that he is the adult in the room. That after another tax-and-spend session of the General Assembly, he alone had the resolve to pull out the veto pen, allegedly for the good of the State.

But the question deserves to be asked plainly: Where was he during the legislative session? And why did he not speak up when his voice was needed?

Throughout the ninety days of session, the Moore administration stood silently while progressive legislators pushed forward a wave of fiscally reckless, ideologically indulgent, and structurally unsound legislation. And now, with the session over and the headlines fading, the Governor wishes to appear as the calm, reasonable figure reining it all in. It is a performance, not a demonstration of leadership.

Governor Moore’s vetoes are not acts of principle; they are acts of political theater. He allowed flawed legislation to move through both chambers, knowing full well their implications, only to veto a few select measures at the eleventh hour.

This is not courage — it is choreography. He is attempting to build a narrative in which he is seen as moderate, measured, and judicious. In reality, he chose to say nothing while his allies in the legislature carried the weight, and now he throws them under the bus to elevate his own image.

This strategy is as cynical as it is transparent.

By remaining quiet during the formation of policy and emerging only at the end to cast vetoes, Governor Moore sidesteps the difficult work of governing. He wants the credit for responsibility without accepting the burden of responsibility. He prefers the applause of pundits to the trust of the people.

Let there be no mistake: real leadership requires presence. It requires engagement during the debates, not grandstanding after the fact. The Governor had every opportunity to voice objections, to shape legislation, to lead.

He chose instead to build a Potemkin village of moderation—a facade of fiscal sensibility and pragmatic governance, constructed on a foundation of silence and passivity.

Marylanders are not fooled. They understand that vetoes made in May do not erase the absence of leadership in January, February, March, and April. They know that the Governor’s failure to confront his party’s excesses during the session is not redeemed by carefully orchestrated vetoes months later.

Governor Moore is not governing—he is auditioning. These late-stage vetoes are not acts of statesmanship but steps in a calculated rebranding effort, designed to position himself for future ambition.

He is more concerned with national optics than with the day-to-day consequences of his inaction on working Maryland families.

And so the question remains: Where were you, Governor? Why did you not speak up when it mattered? Why did you wait until your Democratic colleagues did the heavy lifting before deciding to distance yourself and abandon them?

This is not leadership. This is image management. And I say once again… Maryland deserves better.

Clayton A. Mitchell, Sr., is a lifelong Eastern Shoreman, an attorney, and the former Chairman of the Maryland Department of Labor’s Board of Appeals. He is also the co-host of the Gonzales/Mitchell Show podcast, which discusses politics, business, and cultural issues.