WATCH: The Shade Room Presents “Get Out the Vote” With David Crowley and Gov. Wes Moore

WATCH: The Shade Room Presents “Get Out the Vote” With David Crowley and Gov. Wes Moore

Ahead of governors’ races in Wisconsin, Maryland, and across the country, The Shade Room hosted “Get Out The Vote,” a conversation with David Crowley and Gov. Wes Moore on the stakes of their elections and their plans to make life more affordable. Last week, The Shade Room – which has nearly 40 million followers across their social platforms and 28 million followers on Instagram alone – featured Democratic candidates for governor in Georgia and Nevada, Keisha Lance Bottoms and Aaron Ford.

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley – who could make history as Wisconsin’s first Black governor if elected – shared his plans to lower the cost of living, while creating jobs and delivering opportunity for all Wisconsin families. Gov. Wes Moore talked about what first inspired him to run for governor, expanding workforce opportunities in Maryland, protecting democracy, and energizing young people and Black men to vote. Gov. Moore also highlighted the historic opportunity for voters to elect a record number of Black governors this year if Crowley in Wisconsin, Keisha Lance Bottoms in Georgia, Aaron Ford in Nevada, and Jermaine Johnson in South Carolina win their races.

WATCH HERE and read key excerpts below:

David Crowley 

• “When I became County Executive, for me, it was about how do I make sure that no other family, no other child has to go through that cycle of trauma … As County Executive, we’ve built affordable housing for our seniors, for working families, as well as for people with disabilities. We know we’ve tackled the opioid crisis, reduced overdose deaths by 40%.”

• “If you don’t have a seat at the table, you’re on the menu, right? And as Black folks, we have been on the menu. Women, they’ve been on the menu. Our young people, they’ve been on the menu because nobody’s asked them to pull up a chair to lend their voice to the solutions that not just work for them, but what’s going to work for your community, what’s going to work for your neighbor, and so we have to be really intentional on how we lift up voices in order to actually get things done.”

• “We also need to make sure we’re providing capital for that smart kid who lives down the street that wants to start their own business, that wants to grow the businesses and build infrastructure, so they can start employing people who live in their community. We have to be intentional in making that happen. But you have to make sure you are electing [a leader] that’s willing to put the money where their mouth is in order to make it happen.”

Gov. Wes Moore

• “Donald Trump is trying to rig elections. And by the way, for anybody who says… your vote doesn’t matter, your vote doesn’t count, it’s amazing how they are fighting so hard to take away something from you that doesn’t matter.”

• “I am the only Black governor in the country right now, and I’m only the third Black governor ever elected in the history of this country: 250 years, three Black governors. That’s it. But I know that I stand here as the only Black governor in America, that is not a title that I’m going to hold on to… That’s the reason I’ve been campaigning hard to make sure that David Crowley is the next governor of Wisconsin. I’ve been campaigning hard to make sure that Keisha Lance Bottoms is the next governor of Georgia. I’ve been campaigning hard to make sure that Aaron Ford is the next governor of Nevada…to make sure that Jermaine Johnson is the next governor of South Carolina.”

• “We focus on a lot of things since I became the governor of Maryland to make sure that we’re actually modernizing our economy… we’ve been able to invest in apprenticeship programs and trade programs, and getting more people inside the workforce…We need to make sure that everybody has a pathway to work, wages, and wealth, whether they choose to go [to college] or not.”

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