Maryland Gov. Wes Moore hasn’t had any public appearances in the state for four days, and now we know why.
The governor has been at the Sun Valley Conference, a closed-door event in Idaho known as “billionaire summer camp.” It attracts rich and powerful investors and executives, including from the media and tech worlds.
Moore is there on behalf of the Democratic Governors Association, raising money for Democratic candidates, according to the governor’s political team.
Moore is finance chair for the Democratic Governors Association and has worked to bring in cash for the group before, including at May’s Preakness Stakes, when he headlined a DGA hospitality tent that featured Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, Gov. Phil Murphy of New Jersey and Gov. Laura Kelly of Kansas.
The governor’s office in Annapolis made no mention of Moore’s trip out west.
From Tuesday through Friday, the governor’s daily schedule, distributed to journalists and others, was a succinct: “No Public Schedule.”
On Wednesday, his office did tweet out an official video of a vigorous Moore working out with Naval Academy midshipmen.
While Marylanders may have been unaware that their governor was out of town, Vice President Kamala Harris was in the know.
Harris stopped at Coppin State University in West Baltimore on Friday to tout billions in federal money for clean energy projects. She praised Moore but noted his absence. (Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller spoke at the event.)
“He’s out of the state at the moment, but he wanted to be here and he’s doing incredible work and I want to applaud him,” Harris said.
Following the vice president’s remarks, The Baltimore Banner checked in with Moore’s state government team. They referred us to his campaign spokesman, who confirmed the Sun Valley fundraising trip.
The governor will also be away from Maryland this weekend. On Sunday, he’s scheduled to give a commencement address and receive an honorary degree from the University of the Commonwealth Caribbean in Kingston, Jamaica.
