3-11-2025 4:53am

Dems Want Investigation

Hunt Valley Life Staff

Democrats want ‘shadowy’ anti-Moore group investigated

Operators of NoMoore.org accused of violating state campaign finance laws

By: Bryan P. Sears, Maryland matters

Gov. Wes Moore (D) in a file photo from January. (Photo by Bryan P. Sears/Maryland Matters)

The Maryland Democratic Party is calling on state elections officials to open an investigation into an online effort targeting Gov. Wes Moore.

NoMoore.org has used its website and social media presence on Facebook and X to needle the governor over the state budget, taxes and other issues. The Democratic Party, in a 14-page complaint to the Maryland State Board of Elections, questioned whether the effort violates state election laws.

“Specifically, No Moore — a shadowy effort disguising itself as ‘issue advocacy’ with the clear intent to oppose Governor Moore’s re-election — disseminated campaign material with an incomplete authority line and likely did so without registering with the State Board of Elections,” Maryland Democratic Party Executive Director Karen Darkes, wrote in the complaint.

The identities of the organizers remain unknown and the subject of much speculation around the State House.

An email sent Friday to an address listed on the organization’s social media accounts elicited an unsigned email response a short time later. “We are fully compliant with Maryland law and will register with the appropriate agency when we reach the required thresholds,” said the five-paragraph reply, the rest of which was the sort of barbed political snark the site generally employs.

Allen Norfleet, director of candidacy and campaign finance for the state board of elections, confirmed receipt of the Democrats’ complaint on Feb. 26.

“Our office has begun working on the investigation,” Norfleet said in an email.

On Friday, Robbie Leonard, a Baltimore County attorney and Democratic National Committee member, posted an article about the elections board complaint.

“Ya better lawyer up,” Leonard wrote.

Operators of the NoMoore.org account on X responded with a screenshot of the First Amendment.

Social media posts connected to the site are published several times a day. One such post on Friday chided Moore for a lack of fiscal responsibility as he seeks to hire “another photographer for his office” while “Maryland’s budget deficit is soaring.

“Nothing screams ‘FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY’ like making sure you get his good side,” the post continues.

The group describes itself as “a grassroots uprising to fight back against the failed tax-and-spend policies of the Moore Administration.”

The complaint from the Democratic party was first reported by The Baltimore Sun.

Darkes, in her complaint on behalf of the party, says the No Moore effort crosses lines including advocating for Moore’s defeat at the ballot box.

Darkes argues that a number posts include comment threads in which the NoMoore account operators call for the governor to be limited to one term. Others include graphics that include Moore’s image inside a circle with a line through it, indicating he should be defeated in 2026.

Because of that, Darkes argues that the operators of the website must comply with a number of provisions of state elections law.

First, the Democratic Party argues that the advocacy on the site and its social media accounts contains ‘”magic words'” — specific words calling for an action that then trigger campaign regulations.

As such, Darkes said the operators of the website must post an authority line on their website that shows who owns and operates the site and social media accounts.

“Whoever is behind No Moore may claim their activities are ‘issue advocacy’ not regulated under campaign finance law,” Darkes wrote. “Howevrer, the section of their slogan ‘No Moore’ — especially when they state their true intent to keep the governor to one term (to oppose re-election) makes that argument hollow.”

A year ago, the Office of the State Prosecutor announced a $2,000 fine against John King for Governor after the Democratic candidate sent campaign emails without authority lines. King’s campaign was fined for its use of an “honestmddems” email account that disseminated materials against Moore in the 2022 primary, but did not contain authority lines.

Darkes further argues that the anti-Moore group likely crossed spending thresholds that require it to register with state elections officials and report spending as an independent expenditure group.