Dan Cox speaks of electricity crisis, economic issues in race for Maryland governor
Maryland Republican gubernatorial nominee warns of electricity crisis, pushes to ban data centers and protect farm land
We are pleased to be joined in studio by Dan Cox, who is the Republican nominee for governor of the state of Maryland, *** former delegate, and who ran 4 years ago for the same position. Great to see you, delegate. Good morning to you. It’s an honor. Thanks, gentlemen. Lots to get to this morning, I guess we’ll start off. With, uh, now that you are the nominee for the Republican Party, what is your focus going to be on in the next couple of months as you run against Westmore to relieve Marylanders of the financial crisis that we’re facing? I mean, we’re right now, we have about 300,000 Marylanders facing an imminent cutoff on their energy bills, um, on their, on their electric. Uh, this is *** crisis, uh, compared to, for instance, last year, I think it was up by 15,000, so 115,000 cutoffs. We’re at almost 300,000, gentlemen. That’s *** serious crisis, uh, particularly when you look at the, uh, the grid and the instability, uh, and the fact that we had about 89,000 come online last year, new houses come online. Uh, so we’re outpacing by far the cutoffs versus new homes coming online. Part of that might be people moving out, but we have *** crisis because the, uh, electric plants have been shut down. And unfortunately, gentlemen, I’ve, I’ve become aware that the, one of the plants that the, you know, that the governor and the administration shut down was Morgantown, and it’s now been handed over allegedly, uh, it’s in process to be handed over to Terror Wolf. Uh, apparently the deal’s done. Um, and that’s ***, *** mega data center. Now, here we are short of energy for Marylanders and instead we have ***, uh, handing over to, uh, to Terror Wolf, and unfortunately, Uh, the people in charge of that data company did donate to the, to my opponent’s campaign. So that’s gonna change on my watch. I think that’s *** bread and butter kitchen table issue. That’s where we’re focused in this campaign, and we have to work hard, uh, because, uh, unfortunately, so many people are leaving Maryland quickly. Dan Cox is in studio with us, everyone, former Maryland delegate. He is *** Republican nominee for governor and attorney as well. And Dan Cox. When it comes to data centers, which has become *** large issue in *** lot of different states, we’re part in PJM Grid and everything else, what would your position be moving forward? We know Hartford County has put *** total ban on data centers there. Baltimore City, Baltimore County have pauses. What is your position on the data center kind of crisis that we have going on? I would like to ban them. Uh, Immediate powers of the governor would be able to issue *** moratorium. And I would like to do that because we must do it. Um, it’s seizing farmland, it’s taking over, uh, whole water supplies. Uh, the, the issue is concerning, for instance, in Morgantown, the projection, this is science talking now, it’s not Dan Cox or anybody kind of off the radar here looking at this or concerned. The science says that it will create *** warming, potentially up to 16 degrees in the area. Uh, so there are serious concerns with that. Now, Am I pro-technology? Absolutely. Am I pro, uh, business? That’s who I am. I, you know, I’m *** huge business supporter. We’re losing businesses left and right, but the answer to our concerns there is not to allow the takeover of our farms and our rural communities. We have to, we can do better. Well, does it, does it have to be on, on rural? Areas. I mean, you can build them in other places and you can build them in industrial places. So *** full out ban on data centers does seem to be anti-capitalism. Well, that’s why we need to be careful with this and stop it. Right now they’re seizing up all the rural lands, uh, and furthermore, even in the industrial areas, we need to have *** careful look at what, what is going to be the impact, uh, for the community. Uh, right now in Frederick, I’ll, I’ll tell you, they’re just, they just took an entire Adamstown farm, beautiful farmland, and they’re taking over. And the water supply in the area, over 5000 residents are, are concerned about this. It’s so bad that I think our town coun, our, our, our, our county council president may have lost his position. That’s how bad it is. Well, let me ask you this from that point of view though, um, because the president of the United States wants these. Um, Donald Trump says they’re liquid gold in many ways. He says we have to win the AI war with China. And, you know, his point of view has been, well, we’ll just make the data centers, you know, create their own energy, uh, and not steal from the grid, so you don’t hurt, uh, consumers as much anymore. Do you not agree with that assessment of, of, of, of data centers and what they can do and why they’re needed so much in this country? Well, I think it’s *** different perspective. When you look at West Moore, what has he done? He’s done exactly that. He’s given over *** power center to Terra Wolf. And yet Maryland is losing power centers. I mean, we’ve had zero power centers, electric, uh, uh, uh, power companies, uh, and, and supply centers come online. 0 since Westmore took office. So to say that we’re gonna allow data centers to have their own power supplies, what about the people? 300,000 getting cutoff notices, imminent cutoff notices. And by the way, I think the technology is old. I, I think the president, uh, is focused on national security issues, and that’s his job, but I’m focused on Maryland. And what is the issue here? The issue in Maryland is we’re literally facing an MPRP power line taking farmland, not from Maryland data centers, for Virginia data centers. Now I think that’s as ***, as *** lawyer, I think that’s an eminent domain problem because you can’t take land from Marylanders for *** foreign power or foreign corporation, which is exactly what’s happening now. They’re getting around that through the local process, but. There, uh, as governor, I will put an immediate halt to that. We’re gonna look at it. Republican nominee for governor Dan Cox joins us on board from the Republican Party. When it comes to, uh, economic growth, you’re looking at the big picture in terms of where Maryland is. CNBC just had *** report out saying that Maryland has the 2nd worst. We’re the second worst state in the country as it relates to our eco economic growth and everything else. What would you do to turn it around? And what do you think is to blame? The Maryland Chamber of Commerce blames high costs, taxes, regulatory burdens. What, what are your thoughts? I agree. I mean, when we’re out on the campaign trail, you know, one of the things I love to do is to, to do the, the parades, you know, my kids love it, and Uh, we literally had chants going on in Dundalk regarding build the bridge and cut the car registration fees. I mean, you got Brian’s attention registration, so it’s, it’s, it’s hurting, um, when you look at the taxes, the property taxes, we’ve had, uh, I just had the estimate come out, about 35,000 tax lien sales happened this past year. They just finished the, the, the auctions. So right now 35,000 approximate Marylanders are facing the fact that they have to come up with money to redeem their homes or they’re gonna lose it forever. These, by the way, 45% of these folks are seniors who have paid off their homes, and they’re in, guess where? Baltimore City, Prince George’s County, Montgomery County, Anne Arundel County, um, and, um, Baltimore County, the top five central counties that voted for my opponent. And yet what the, what the, uh, exact response that they received or what the, the benefit they have received is *** crushing tax burden. Why? Because the budget is so bloated that they had to raise the property, uh, assessments by about 20%. And by the way, We don’t replace the governor this fall. That’s happening again. Now, on my watch, we’re not gonna do that. We’re gonna bring CPAs in, we’re gonna audit, we’re gonna have this, an adult professionalism going on here for every department. Find out why we had $300 million go to Baltimore City ghost students, claw that back where we can. At the end of the day, we can do much better. When you’re looking at Pennsylvania, *** lot of, you know, *** lot of people want to blame, uh, other people, you know, blame the feds, blame, uh, Republicans, blame whatever, no, no. Maryland has one of the wealthiest and highest budgets in America, and other democratically led states are doing better than us, even in our region. So that shows you that we can do better here. $71 billion is the budget. Um, if you become governor, uh, next year, if you’re sworn in in January, will that budget be more than $71 billion? Will it shrink? What’s, what’s it gonna be? Oh, it will have to shrink because we’re $4 billion struck, almost $4 billion structurally in the deficit, and. Uh, I’m committed to not raising taxes and so we’re gonna have, um, really, I think the beauty of, um, you know, great governors like Larry Hogan and Bob Ehrlich, who I’m so honored to have been, uh, you know, Governor Ehrlich has endorsed and, uh, helping us out. Uh, when you look at their approach, they had *** pragmatic, focused approach, pro-business and pro-family approach, and, uh, looked very carefully at the budget, and we’re gonna do that. We’re gonna bring in the professionals to make sure that happens. We’re gonna make sure. That every dollar is accounted for. And when you do that, I mean, I, I don’t know the exact numbers, but I’m told about $1.2 billion is potentially lost or wasted in the Governor Moore budget of $71 billion. So right there, I mean we have an immediate savings if we can claw that back. You just said no new taxes. Could you, could you cut taxes and what could you do to try to encourage more business to come to the state as well? So our economic plan includes um *** push, and I’m going to work hard with my Democratic colleagues, uh, to, to get this passed. Uh, to lower that corporate rate, we’re the highest, one of the highest corporate rate tax rates in the region, 8.25%, 8.25%. We should push that back down. Um, I think every Republican that ran this year called for that. That’s part of my plan. It’s always been something we’ve worked for, but I think we can move that down and be competitive. We have to. And when you become competitive, you know, for, for small business and for corporate, uh, opportunities for jobs to bring them in, the end result is, uh, we have ***. *** net gain with, uh, you know, the income. And so, and we don’t have to do that on the backs of people with these mega data centers. I mean, that, that’s why they’re looking at them is because they’re, you know, they’re lucrative for the short term, but they’re already outdated. We, you know, Elon Musk has shown us that he’s gonna put them up in in space or whatever. So, uh, when, when you look at the corporate tax rate, we have to lower it. I would like to see *** 5.5%. Uh, we’ll see what we can come up with the legislature. But in the meantime, the governor has amazing opportunity, Brian. Uh, to, uh, take executive action to help, uh, wave and to, uh, uh, provide incentives to bring those businesses in. It’s not happening right now. We’re actually losing businesses left and right. Dan Cox, former delegate, is joining us in the studio running for governor on the Republican side of the ledger. So look, there’s *** formula for winning in Maryland as *** Republican for governor. We’ve seen it in Bob Ehrlich’s campaign and Larry Hogan’s campaign. You don’t need to win *** lot of Democratic votes. I mean, you could get *** portion of it, but you’ve got to have *** super turnout from the Republicans in terms of that. Last time people thought because of some of the issues you had with Governor Hogan or whatever, that you didn’t get *** super turnout of Republicans. How do you hope to convince Republicans all across the board to join you in this campaign? Well, this isn’t 2022, this is 2026. This is about Maryland, and it’s about coming together, uniting to, to do what everybody knows needs to be done. It’s really my heart, it’s always been that, got, you know, got *** little bit sideways sometimes, uh, but that’s not really the focus. If you look at my career, uh, I have consistently worked across the aisle. I’ve consistently worked to unite Republicans, and, uh, frankly, um, Yeah, the, the turnout was *** little low, but I, we did an analysis, we did ***, um, you know, the political crunch and number crunching. We’re not off from Larry Hogan’s numbers from 2014 in terms of turnout percentage and, and total turnout. Uh, it’s, it’s less than what we would have wanted to see, but we’re gonna work hard at that. So we already have *** get out the vote campaign that we’re putting in place. Uh, at the end of the day, Uh, we need that turnout, but when you look across the I-95 corridor and we’re door knocking, I love door knocking, and we’re out there door knocking, and I was in Prince George’s door knocking, and, and *** Democrat answered the door, um, and her husband was *** Republican, her daughter, an independent or something to that effect, and I had the opportunity to speak with her and, and she looked at me and she said, I have one question. Are you going to govern more with common sense? Because right now I voted for Westmore, but I can’t do it again. I said, that’s my, that’s my goal, that’s my purpose, that’s my plan, that’s my pledge. We have to do this. This isn’t about, uh, the future. I’m not running for anything else. I’m running to help Maryland. Why? I had my oldest two kids move out. This is for real. Why? Because they got married, they could not afford to do what my wife and I had the opportunity to do and to live in this beautiful state. And I want to make sure that we have that opportunity for our, our future, and we have to do it now. Uh, one of the issues though for you where the struggles come from is because you are, uh, associated with Donald Trump. Whether that’s fair or not, I don’t know, but I know you’re gonna get this question asked, so I’ll, I’ll be maybe one of the first to ask you of this, this, this time around. Donald Trump, and he may even talk about this tonight when he addresses the nation, um, believes that he won the election in 2020. Do you believe that Donald Trump won the election in 2020? I am not an expert on elections and I’ve gotten pegged with saying I’m ***, I’m *** denier. I’m actually *** supporter of the data. And you’ll notice that I conceded, that I, you know, in my race, I conceded, and you’ll notice that in the 2020 election, even though I got attacked because I questioned like Georgia, but at the end of the day, you know, I, I called the president, and you can see, look this up in the press. I called the president, President Biden. Why? Because, you know, he was the president. And um I, I do not have uh any of that concern other than this. Here’s what we need to focus on. Do you think Joe Biden won the election? I think he probably did, uh, probably, well, he did certified, yes, I’m gonna say that absolutely. He said he was certified to be the winner. But I again, I, I don’t know what, what the DOJ is saying, and, and I’m not gonna get in that because here’s the issue. This isn’t *** national issue. This is *** Maryland issue right here in Maryland. Do you believe that George W. Bush won in 2020? Again, these are national issues, and I think that yes, it was certified, and look, the reason why I ask you that is because listen, Donald Trump is disliked in the state by *** lot of people, so that, that, and, and so there are people wanna know, are, are you, are you going to be, uh, tied with him, or do you, do you believe in, in those, in those conspiracy theories that, that, that the president believes in? No, I don’t. And here’s the thing, like if I was tied to President Trump, I probably would be in the administration. I’m not. Why, why is Dan Cox running for governor trying to save Maryland? Because I’m tired of people running for president and not caring about and having their 2 ft planted on this soil, caring about our kids. That’s, that’s who I am. Well, let’s get to kids, delegate Dan Cox, because one of the big issues that I think Governor Westmore’s had *** problem with is Department of Juvenile Services. We saw that his former secretary Vincent Schiraldi was forced to remove himself. We have New secretary Betsy Fox Valentino, but you’re hearing from state’s attorneys, police that we still have major problems when it comes to violent juveniles in the state. If you’re governor, how can you fix what everybody says is *** broken juvenile services system? I’m gonna work with Ivan Bates. I think he’s tried to do *** stand-up, fantastic job. He’s doing everything he can, and I agree with, with his, uh, concerns lately, uh, that he’s, um, asserted, and that is the juvenile law that the governor has signed is *** disaster. It’s endangering our community. We’re talking about murderers, carjackers, uh, rapists who, according to Ivan Bates, the state’s attorney for Baltimore City, says it’s *** good thing that those that he caught now are in the pipeline for the for, for the adult system, because next year, according to the Westmore Law, they would have to go in the juvie system. Now, I served on the Judiciary Committee. And I fought the effort to close down these high security juvenile, um, facilities. And the problem is we don’t have any high security juvenile facilities left except for one happens to be over in my county, Frederick County. And the sad thing is, um, most of these very dangerous, uh, young people, some of them are 17, we’re talking about real big guys sometimes. Uh, they are put in these, uh, what, what I would call these group homes that, uh, end up endangering folks, and it’s, it’s ***, it’s *** problem. So yes, the governor must step up. I served on the crime task force with Governor Hogan in the legislature. I worked hard to make sure that our laws were enforced. As governor, we will make this *** priority. I’ve made that statement that we’re gonna work with law enforcement. We’re gonna work and push hard and one of the things you can do is, is stand next to Ivan Bates. And make this call. Where was the governor when Ivan Bates stood up? He wasn’t there. I think *** lot of people who want this is my analysis of, of Republicans, independents, and maybe even some Democrats will hear your message on the economy and like it and say that’s *** big contrast to, to Westmore, like the way you’re going. The concern is gonna be, can you win over all of those Democrats and those Republicans to get them to vote for you. It’s, it’s *** very tough lift. The, the social issues are important. This is *** left of center state. Um, you talked last time about being unapologetically pro-life abortion. Um, this is an area where abortion is, is legal in this country post Roe world. Will you do anything as governor to change that? How, how, what, or are you just going to stick to, to, to, to economic issues and not touch social issues? Yeah, we’re sticking with the economic issues because there’s nothing I can do. Uh, to, you know, to, to change what is the law. I mean, Maryland has *** constitution. One of the things that people that I try to tell people that disagree with me on is, you know what, there’s no, uh, uh, test on whether or not you believe this or that social issue for the 300,000 people getting their electric bills cut off. That’s where we’re focused. And why is that important? Because I also, and people can take heart in this. I’m *** constitutionalist. I really am. That’s why I’ve stood up against my own party sometimes and. And been stepped on. Uh, why do I believe in the Constitution? Because I believe in individual rights and liberties. And so, as governor, you have to follow the Constitution. One of the things that you talked *** lot about in your last campaign, uh, Dan Cox, was public education, and we find ourselves behind states like Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama when it comes to reading proficiency, when it comes to math proficiency. What about the blueprint? Do you think that this blueprint, this $4 billion needs to be altered dramatically, and what would you do differently, because it doesn’t appear that it’s making *** big difference when it comes to outcomes, student outcomes. No, that, that’s absolutely correct, and I was. Very sad to see it pass. It was *** little difficult, you know, when I stood up in the legislature to try to prevent, you know, to do the speeches, I mean, we, we worked hard across the aisle to find something better, to find *** better path, and I don’t believe that the product that came out was the best for Maryland, and it’s now being proven to be so. So, you know, at the time I was threatened and say, you know, if you vote against Kerwin, you’re, you’re gonna be politically dead. And, and now actually it’s showing that, uh, we actually are the ones who cared because it’s not reaching the classroom. Uh, it’s so sad. It breaks my heart. I mean, my kids are blessed with, uh, you know, more of *** private education focus because we home educate and we have, uh, alternative, uh, you know, education opportunities that, that they can participate in because you can have early college now in, in high school, but *** lot of these kids, especially Baltimore City, don’t have that option. And why? Hundreds of millions going to, I don’t know what, what, what is it going to? We put in 2 billion, I remember, into the Baltimore City program. Uh, when I was in the legislature and then I went there myself when I was, uh, campaigning and I, I toured with local officials and, and such and the, the Department of Ed people, and they didn’t have HVAC. Incredible. I, I couldn’t believe it. I thought this is *** crime to me it’s *** crime. Like this is wrong. So we’re gonna do that on day one. I’m gonna fix it and yes, we need to repeal and replace or do something better. Uh, then Kerwin, it’s *** financial debacle to help, uh, in my view, not the students, but some, somebody else. But we’re gonna make sure the money goes to the classroom. We’re gonna help teachers get the job done and, and bring those students up to par. We used to have, and that we can do this, see, for we, as you know, we had ***, ***, *** world-class education. We were, I got top ranked school system, yeah, I think 4th at one point, and now we’re near the bottom. We can do better. Are you willing to debate, uh, Governor Moore? I am can’t wait. I’m just making sure because, and, and I hear, uh, it’s not, I don’t have the confirmation yet, but I hear August 15th. You lost by 32 points. What is going to change to make that 32 points, you know, become *** 1 point victory or whatever it is for that, that’s *** lot is what my point is. What, how is it possible that Dan Cox could actually win? Well, when you, when you look at, uh, the, the record of Westmore, that’s the big change. People did not know Westmore at the time. And, you know, in, in Westmore’s defense, uh, West Moore didn’t know Westmore. He, he hadn’t, uh, governed ever. Uh, now he has, he has *** record, and honestly, it’s, um, uh, it’s unfortunate. He’s *** smiling, nice, nice, nice guy to maybe interact with, but he’s not here. We’re, you know, we’re, we’re doing *** little part of our campaign is just to ask the question, *** basic question, where’s Wes? Well, yesterday he was in South Carolina, and the week before he was somewhere else. He’s actually traveled, uh, we’ve looked it up over 50 times out of state. And yet, this is while, you know, July 15th, there was an order saying they’re gonna terminate 300,000 Marylanders’ electric bills. So, that’s gonna be *** huge difference. Uh, secondly, we are, we’ve learned, I’ve learned *** lot. *** lot of people say, well, you know, it’s hard for you to win if you’ve, uh, lost before. Actually, the statistics show that people who have fought hard and come up short, even sometimes more short than others, Do far, far better the second time and they win. So that’s what we’re gonna do. Dan Cox, former delegate, Republican nominee for governor, thank you so much for spending this time with us this morning. We hope we can get you back on to talk about issues before the November election when your time allows. I’m, I’m here. Dan Cox. Thank you very much. Appreciate it.
Dan Cox speaks of electricity crisis, economic issues in race for Maryland governor
Maryland Republican gubernatorial nominee warns of electricity crisis, pushes to ban data centers and protect farm land
Maryland Republican gubernatorial nominee Dan Cox spoke to a wide array of issues Thursday morning on WBAL NewsRadio 1090 AM and 101.5 FM.This November’s general election is a rematch of the 2022 gubernatorial race, in which the former Maryland state delegate lost to Democrat Wes Moore.Among the issues discussed Thursday included the 2020 election, for which Cox initially a vocal skeptic of the election results, clarified his stance.During a national address Thursday night, President Donald Trump is expected to highlight his administration’s findings suggesting there was foreign interference in the 2020 election.This stance is proving to be a bit of a wedge between the president and Cox, who called for a forensic audit on both the national and state levels.During a campaign fundraiser in 2021, Cox said Trump was “the only president that I recognize right now,” and that President Joe Biden was “installed.”Cox clarified his stance Thursday morning when asked about the 2020 election.”I am not an expert in elections, and I’ve got pegged with saying I’m a denier. I’m actually a supporter of the data. And, you’ll notice that I conceded (the 2022 gubernatorial election), in my race, I conceded. And, you’ll notice that, in the 2020 election, even though I got attacked because I questioned, like, Georgia, at the end of the day, I called the president — you can look this up in the press — I called the president, ‘President Biden’ because he was the president,” Cox said.When asked whether he thinks Biden won the election, Cox replied: “I think he probably did. Well, (the election was) certified, yes, I’m going to say that. Absolutely, he was certified to be the winner.”Cox also spent several minutes addressing what he called an electricity crisis. He specifically called out the threat of data centers, raising concerns on whether the economic benefits surrounding them outweigh their environmental and infrastructure costs.”I’m focused on Maryland, and what is the issue here? The issue in Maryland is we are literally facing an NPRP power line taking farm land, not for Maryland data centers, but for Virginia data centers,” Cox said. “I would like to ban them. (The) immediate powers of the governor, (I) would be able to issue a moratorium, and I would like to do that because we must do it … Am I pro technology? Absolutely. In my pro-business, that’s who I am. I’m a huge business supporter. We’re losing businesses left and right. But the answer to our concerns there is not to allow the takeover of our farms in our rural communities. We can do better.”When it comes to social issues, Cox said he would follow the constitution.”We’re sticking with the economic issues because there’s nothing I can do to change what is the law. Maryland has a constitution, and one of the things I try to tell people that disagree with me is, there’s no test on whether or not you believe this social issue for the 300,000 people getting their electric bills cut off. That’s where we’re focused,” Cox said. “As governor, you have to follow the constitution.”Cox also promised a reduction of the state’s corporate tax rate by 2.75%, cutting vehicle registration fees and collaborating with the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office to strengthen the juvenile justice system.
Maryland Republican gubernatorial nominee Dan Cox spoke to a wide array of issues Thursday morning on WBAL NewsRadio 1090 AM and 101.5 FM.
This November’s general election is a rematch of the 2022 gubernatorial race, in which the former Maryland state delegate lost to Democrat Wes Moore.
Among the issues discussed Thursday included the 2020 election, for which Cox initially a vocal skeptic of the election results, clarified his stance.
During a national address Thursday night, President Donald Trump is expected to highlight his administration’s findings suggesting there was foreign interference in the 2020 election.
This stance is proving to be a bit of a wedge between the president and Cox, who called for a forensic audit on both the national and state levels.
During a campaign fundraiser in 2021, Cox said Trump was “the only president that I recognize right now,” and that President Joe Biden was “installed.”
Cox clarified his stance Thursday morning when asked about the 2020 election.
“I am not an expert in elections, and I’ve got pegged with saying I’m a denier. I’m actually a supporter of the data. And, you’ll notice that I conceded (the 2022 gubernatorial election), in my race, I conceded. And, you’ll notice that, in the 2020 election, even though I got attacked because I questioned, like, Georgia, at the end of the day, I called the president — you can look this up in the press — I called the president, ‘President Biden’ because he was the president,” Cox said.
When asked whether he thinks Biden won the election, Cox replied: “I think he probably did. Well, (the election was) certified, yes, I’m going to say that. Absolutely, he was certified to be the winner.”
Cox also spent several minutes addressing what he called an electricity crisis. He specifically called out the threat of data centers, raising concerns on whether the economic benefits surrounding them outweigh their environmental and infrastructure costs.
“I’m focused on Maryland, and what is the issue here? The issue in Maryland is we are literally facing an NPRP power line taking farm land, not for Maryland data centers, but for Virginia data centers,” Cox said. “I would like to ban them. (The) immediate powers of the governor, (I) would be able to issue a moratorium, and I would like to do that because we must do it … Am I pro technology? Absolutely. In my pro-business, that’s who I am. I’m a huge business supporter. We’re losing businesses left and right. But the answer to our concerns there is not to allow the takeover of our farms in our rural communities. We can do better.”
When it comes to social issues, Cox said he would follow the constitution.
“We’re sticking with the economic issues because there’s nothing I can do to change what is the law. Maryland has a constitution, and one of the things I try to tell people that disagree with me is, there’s no test on whether or not you believe this social issue for the 300,000 people getting their electric bills cut off. That’s where we’re focused,” Cox said. “As governor, you have to follow the constitution.”
Cox also promised a reduction of the state’s corporate tax rate by 2.75%, cutting vehicle registration fees and collaborating with the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office to strengthen the juvenile justice system.