Welcome to From the Politics Desk, a daily newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team’s latest reporting and analysis from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign trail.In today’s edition, Alexandra Marquez digs into the down-ballot stakes for Maryland Gov.Wes Moore in next week’s election.
Plus, Sarah Sternhagen breaks down how this midterm cycle became even more expensive than the last presidential one.— Adam WollnerAmid 2028 speculation, Wes Moore urges Marylanders to back him on redistrictingBy Alexandra MarquezBALTIMORE — Maryland Gov.
Wes Moore is expected to cruise to re-election on Nov.3.
But he’s sweating the campaign nonetheless.Moore’s political prowess is being tested at home beyond his own race for a second term, as Maryland voters prepare to take sides on a ballot question that would allow state Democratic leaders to redraw congressional district lines in a way that favors the party even more than the current 7-1 map.Moore and his allies — including former President Barack Obama — are framing a vote for the ballot question as a vote to fight back against President Donald Trump and Republicans, an argument that might usually be expected to find purchase in a deep-blue state.But it has become apparent in recent weeks that support for the ballot measure may not be as strong as Moore and other Maryland Democrats had hoped, and a major late effort has ramped up to promote passage of the measure.If it doesn’t pass, it would be a major political setback for Moore amid wide speculation that he’s gearing up for a potential 2028 presidential campaign.A poll released this month by the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, found that a majority of likely voters in the state (53%) planned to vote against the measure.
That included 42% of Democrats, 74% of Republicans and 59% of unaffiliated voters who planned to vote no.So far this month, Fight Back MD, a group supporting the measure, has spent $550,000 on TV ads urgi...