CHICAGO — Gov. Wes Moore will address the Democratic National Convention this week about the importance of public service, a theme he has sought to make a signature of his administration.
Moore, a top campaign surrogate for President Joe Biden, who will address the convention during its opening night Monday, had been expected to be part of the convention program.
It remained uncertain Sunday night when the first-term governor would deliver his speech. He said an announcement was coming “very, very soon.”
Biden, former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will address the delegates this week before vice presidential nominee Tim Walz, the Minnesota governor, speaks Wednesday and presidential nominee Kamala Harris on Thursday.
Moore has traveled around the country promoting Biden and other Democratic candidates. When Biden withdrew from the race last month, Moore quickly endorsed Harris. National media pundits have speculated that Moore might one day seek the White House.
In speeches, Moore has often said “service will save us.” He 2022 campaigned in 2022 partly on the platform of a paid year of service.
As governor, he established the Department of Service and Civic Innovation to coordinate service initiatives, including the formation of a program allowing the state’s high school graduates to participate in a year of paid public service.
“It’s the people who coach their kids’ sports teams, it’s the people who are the deacons in their church, it’s first responders,” he said in a Baltimore Sun interview Sunday night at the downtown hotel the state’s delegation is sharing with New York, Wisconsin and other states.
Moore said Harris and Walz “are people who have devoted their life to service.”
Earlier, he told reporters during a video call: “My focus will continue to be on the importance of service and how service will save us. A more hopeful and inclusive vision is something that is going to unite not only the Democratic Party but the country as a whole.”
Baltimore Sun reporter Dillon Mullan contributed to this article.
