AUSTIN—Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat, and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, appeared at a political forum last week to discuss their approaches to running their respective states at a time of political polarization.
The moderate governors appeared at the Texas Tribune Festival in Austin. The annual festival hosts a slate of political speakers, newsmakers, and journalists who discuss current events.
Moore, the first black governor of Maryland, said on Sept. 6 that it was important to address child poverty and reduce violent crime, something that Democrats aren’t known for given the far left’s calls for defunding police. For the first time in a decade, Baltimore reduced its annual homicide rate by 20 percent to less than 300 in 2023.
After his father died when he was 3, Moore was raised by his mother, a Jamaican immigrant.
His experiences growing up included being handcuffed when he was 11. At 17, he joined the army.
Moore said that he doesn’t blame Republicans for tensions surrounding poverty and race in the United States.
“I would not put that on one party. I put that on America,” he said. “I can tell you, there are heroes and villains who are Democrats and Republicans.”
Moore said that being pro-community should not mean being anti-police. Community involvement with police can drive down crime, he said.
Youngkin, who was a businessman for 25 years before running for office in 2021, narrowly won Virginia by tapping into the parental rights movement that was sweeping the country.
During the pandemic, parents were able to see what their children were being taught, including far-left race and gender ideologies. Many parents objected and began showing up at school board meetings to protest what their children were being taught in public schools.
Youngkin rode that wave into office, narrowly winning against Terry McAuliffe, which highlighted his ability to unite Trump supporters with other Republicans.
Engage for Change
In addressing increasing political polarization, Moore said people need to think about the division they’re experiencing, primarily online. While social media promotes itself as a way of staying connected, it has arguably made people feel more isolated, he said.“But actually, what’s happened is, they have driven us further apart because they’ve allowed us to now sit in our own ecosystems,” he said.
He said the way to address political polarization is for people to start engaging again with others.
“Our ability to be able to engage in the future of our society is actually our ability to be able to make a change that we’re hoping for,” Moore said.
Likewise, Youngkin discussed engaging the other side of the political aisle to get things done.
He focused on creating school choice for Virginian parents who wanted to leave public schools. Democrats ended up controlling both chambers of the state Legislature after the 2022 midterm elections.
“Virginia has very few charter schools,” Youngkin said. “In fact, I think we have eight.”
Youngkin said parents from rural and urban areas wanted school choice, but Democrats blocked the bills.
One way to offer some choice was through “lab schools.” The state funded a public school–university partnership that met local job needs within the community, he said.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony at the end of August was held for a lab school in rural Virginia, where counties and colleges partner to graduate 100 teachers a year.
Other schools include a space high school near where rockets are launched in Virginia and a maritime school close to shipbuilding ports, he said.
Students in the program will graduate from high school with an associate’s degree and then graduate after attending college for another two years.
The program is free to the students, he said.
But Youngkin said even though he made efforts to negotiate and reach compromises, in the process, he did veto 200 bills.
Youngkin also said during his appearance that on a national level, former President Donald Trump represents the strength that the United States needs to revive the economy and secure the southern border in 2025.
“Progressive policies” from the more far-left branch of the Democratic party undermine the economy, education, and law enforcement, he said.
On the Democratic side, Moore brought up issues such as “Project 2025” as a reason to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris, who is now the Democratic nominee for president.
Moore, like other Democrats, has been referring to the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 as Trump’s plan. However, Trump has repeatedly said he has his own policy goals and had nothing to do with the D.C.-based conservative think tank’s recommendations.
Moore said he feared that Trump would gut the federal government, which would hurt Maryland because many federal workers live there. Trump has said the tough policy approach is needed to reduce the economic burden of overregulation amid painful rates of inflation.
