Maryland is just two months shy of the midterm elections in November.

Democratic Maryland Gov. Wes Moore joined WTOP’s Anne Kramer and Shawn Anderson to talk about election integrity, rising utility costs, data centers and more.

And, you can listen to their conversation with his opponent Dan Cox here.

This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.

Q: On the redistricting legal front, one judge said the state deadline had come and gone for getting the ballot question ready for November’s election. Another judge agreed with Republican challengers of the measure and said the ballot question is misleading. Arguments are being heard in the appeal on Thursday. Why do you say it’s important for the state to have the power to redraw the congressional districts, potentially having all of the members of Congress be Democrats in the future?

Moore: Because I think this should be in the hands of the people. I think the people should actually decide what our democracy looks like. And, listen, this is something that I’ve been, I’ve been for now well over a year, when I started watching what this assault on our democracy and our freedoms was looking like from the White House, when you had the president of the United States who was saying he wanted to nationalize elections, which is unconstitutional, when the president of the United States said he wanted to eliminate mail-in balloting, which is against the law, when the president of the United States said he wanted to put federal, federal troops and federal agents around ballot boxes, which is voter intimidation, and when the president of the United States says that he wants to tell Republican states that they should make mid-decade redistricting, but tell Democratic states that they should sit on their hands. I do not understand how we can allow that happen to our democracy and watch this happen in broad daylight. And so my opinion, what I’ve always said is, put this in front of the people. Let the people of Maryland decide what our democracy looks like, and not Donald Trump.

Q: Governor, switching to mail-in ballots, you just kind of mentioned it there, and restrictions that the president wants on them before the November midterm election, what concerns you the most about this development and action by Trump, because the state of Maryland has joined other Democratic-led states now in suing the White House?

Moore: Well, yeah, and we’ve sued him on this before, and we beat him in court. And I feel good that we’re going to be able to beat him in court again. I mean, this is just another strategy that he is doing to try to manipulate not just the November elections, but the elections going forward. And, you know, I’m very honored that my peers selected me to become the chair of the Democratic Governors Association. So, this is a group of all of our nation’s governors, both Democrats and Republicans. And I can tell you, this is not a partisan opinion. Both Democratic and Republican governors are concerned. And the thing that we know and the thing we can remind our people is that the Constitution gives elections to the states. The federal government is not in charge of elections. And that is another reason why we believe that what the President of the United States is doing is not just unwise, it is unlawful.

Q: Let’s talk about utility rates, because that’s a big concern for so many of your constituents. Pepco did not get the amount of a rate hike it wanted from the Maryland Public Service Commission last week. You’ve been pushing to make sure utility bills don’t go higher for Marylanders. So, what other options are you looking at to try to hold utility companies to keeping rates in check?

Moore: Yeah, I’m thankful for the PSC’s decision. They’re an independent agency, but I’m thankful for the decision that they made, because I know that Pepco is doing just fine. These energy and utility companies are doing just fine. You know who’s not right now? The people of all of our states, the people in the country who are watching inflation at a three-year high, who are watching many of our energy bills go up because we have watched how the president has canceled projects, which has cut supply, and we are watching how we’re waging a war overseas that is causing the cost of everything to go up. And so I think we have to do everything in our power to be able to ensure that we are holding big corporations accountable, just like how in Maryland, you know, I signed legislation that ends price gouging inside the supermarkets and where they cannot use your data against you and manipulate the price because they’re using your data against you, by being able to give the middle class a tax cut and by being able to put now hundreds of dollars back in people’s pockets for utility relief. We need to do everything in our power to be able to show people that we can make life a little bit easier for them, especially at a time right now when they’re watching federal policies that are so harmful.

Q: The data center debate is raging everywhere, including in Maryland. Democratic politicians have in the past supported data centers, but that is quickly changing. What do you think the reason is behind the shift?  Where do you stand?

Moore: Well, I can tell you, you know, what I said. I said it at the start of the year during the State of the State. I was very clear, and my framework has not moved on this. For these things to be able to move forward in our state, they need to make sure they’re hiring local workers, that they need to make sure they’re engaged in local communities, and local communities have a final say. They cannot just bigfoot local communities and do things that local communities do not want. They need to make sure that they are bringing their own power and bringing their own energy, and they cannot pollute our air, and they cannot pollute our water. You know, I understand that there are certain local jurisdictions who want it, and I understand that. But here’s what I do know, is that local jurisdictions need to be the ones that have the final say on this, and that there need to be very real guidelines, to include things like bringing in your own power, not polluting our air and our water, making sure you’re hiring local workers, local union workers. Like these are all things that I think are important that I stated at the start of the year, and the fact that more and more people are coming to that position, I’m grateful that they’re listening to how we’re thinking about this. But, but we have to be clear that these data center companies and these big corporations, they do not write the rules. They do not get to determine whatever they say, they can do. And this is something that we’ve seen here in Maryland for years, years before I became the governor. But we’re finally now putting frameworks around this that actually makes sense for the people.

Q: We haven’t had a chance to talk to you since last month’s decision by a federal judge to get the FBI headquarters back to Greenbelt. Next steps here, what can we expect about construction, or are you holding off and seeing further court action, maybe an appeal by the government?

Moore: Well, I’m sure that the federal government is going to try to appeal this process. But what we saw from a federal judge is exactly what we thought: that this was a competitive process that went for about a decade long, that Maryland won fair and square. And we won fair and square because all the indicators and the data behind it went in our favor. That we could have proximity to public transportation. That we can make sure they have a secure place to be able to do their work. That, that we can make sure that it’s actually being leveraged of the various cyber assets that are within the area. The new FBI building, which by the way is going to be responsible for thousands of jobs and billions of dollars of economic activity, belongs in Maryland. It belongs in Prince George’s County. We’re glad that a federal judge agreed with that, and we’re ready to get to work and ready to get building right now.

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