Willie Brown, the former mayor of San Francisco and California political powerbroker, said in a recent interview that Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) could be next in line for the top of the Democratic ticket after Vice President Harris.
The 90-year-old Brown sat for an interview with Politico, where he shared his thoughts on the political landscape, both before President Biden suspended his reelection campaign and after.
Despite being on different sides of the country, he said he’s gotten to know Moore and thought highly of the former Army officer.
“The governor of Maryland is the next guy, Wes Moore — if he plays it right,” Brown said.
He said Moore’s credentials and military background take him “into the white world clean.”
Moore entered the 2022 race to replace former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) as a relative unknown and has quickly shot to national prominence. He was among a handful of Democratic governors who polled higher than Harris as a potential replacement for Biden.
He was also among the names tossed around for a potential vice presidential pick for Harris, though he is not among those still under consideration.
Moore was deployed to Afghanistan in 2005 and 2006, and attained the rank of captain as part of the 82nd Airborne Division.
Harris, who emerged as a national figure after starting her career in politics as San Francisco’s district attorney, is perhaps the most high-profile of Brown’s protege’s.
They also dated, and Harris’s relationship with Brown has previously been used against her, including when she campaigned in 2020 for the presidential nomination.
In a short article in 2019, Brown acknowledged their relationship and said “so what?”
“Yes, we dated. It was more than 20 years ago,” Brown wrote in the San Francisco Chronicle.
Brown said he’s also lent a hand to other California Democrats including former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Gov. Gavin Newsom and former Sen. Dianne Feinstein.
After Biden dropped out and endorsed Harris, Brown joked with Politico that if she wins, he may be deported back to his home state of Texas.
“She may send me back to Mineola,” he said. “Sending me back to Texas would be a deportment!”
California Democrats have quickly united behind Harris’s campaign, despite some speculation that Newsom might make his own run for the White House. Newsom endorsed Harris the day after Biden dropped out.
The former mayor said Newsom had “agreed a long time ago that under no circumstance would he ever challenge Kamala.”