Banker, Blast owner Ed Hale preparing a 2026 challenge to Wes Moore

Yahoo

02-05-2025

Government House, the official name for the governor's mansion, sits just across the street from the State House in Annapolis. (Photo by Danielle E. Gaines/Maryland Matters)
As far as Ed Hale is concerned, it's all over but the paperwork.
Hale, the current owner of the Baltimore Blast indoor soccer team and a longtime city banker and business owner, said he is committed to mounting a Democratic primary challenge in 2026 to Gov. Wes Moore (D), at the urging of friends who he said are worried about the future of the state.
It's just talk for the moment, but Hale said Thursday that he is pulling together all the paperwork and disclosure forms that will be needed to make it official.
'I'm getting everything together … and that's it, and I hope to file it on Monday or Tuesday after working through the weekend to get it all done,' said Hale, 78.
'When I'm done, you know, I will have some sort of press announcement,' he said.
The primary election is not until June 30, 2026, but Hale might need all that time to mount a challenge to Moore, a formidable candidate despite some recent bumps in the road.
While recent polls have shown Moore's job approval slipped a bit, as state officials juggled new taxes and program cuts to close a $3 billion gap in next year's budget, his ratings were still above 50% three years into his first term, with 52% of voters in a February poll saying they approved of the job he is doing. Among Democrats, who would be voting in the 2026 primary, 79% said they approve of Moore.
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Moore is a prodigious fundraiser who reportedly has $4 million in the bank already. He will be 47 next summer to Hale's 79. And the governor frequently makes appearances on national stages and is often talked about as a possible presidential contender in 2028 — speculation he rejected repeatedly during an appearance Thursday on 'The View.'
Moore's office declined to comment Thursday on the possibility of a primary challenge from Hale.
Even in a decidedly blue state like Maryland, the winner of the primary will have to face general election challengers, and the GOP already has one ticket in the race. Republican John Myrick filed for governor in February, the earliest possible date to do so, and he announced his running mate on Wednesday, former Washington County Del. Brenda Thiam.
More daunting would be a race against former Gov. Larry Hogan (R), whose popularity numbers rivaled Moore's through his two terms in office and who is repeatedly mentioned as a possible 2026 candidate for his old job.
Hale said his decision to run came after discussions with many friends, who were lamenting the direction of the state, particularly its fiscal situation and business climate.
'I talked to [former Maryland Insurance Commissioner] Al Redmer and some other guys, and this is terrible, what's happening in the state,' Hale said, describing their discussions. ''Can't you come up with anybody?' We were goose hunting on my farm. And finally, people started calling me, why don't you consider doing it?
'So I just thought about and thought about it, and just decided to do it,' Hale said.
He stresses his business background, noting that he built his businesses from the ground up, with no family money and no college education. Hale waxes poetic about the natural beauty of the state and its many cultural and economic advantages, but said he worries about its future.
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He said he is most concerned about the state's financial future.
'I hear about the budget, and I hear it's going to get worse, not better,' Hale said. 'I'm not here to criticize the problem. I'm just coming in trying to be part of the solution.'
Hale concedes that Moore would be a formidable opponent who will run a well-organized and well-funded race for reelection. But he said he is not worried by the prospect of raising the money and building the organization that will be needed to challenge a popular incumbent.
'I'll give it the old East Baltimore Irish try,' he said.