Trump Fundraiser For MD Governor Candidate Dan Cox Set At Mar-A-Lago

MARYLAND — Republican gubernatorial candidate Dan Cox, trailing Democrat Wes Moore by nearly 20 percentage points in a recent poll, is getting a campaign boost from former President Donald Trump.

The Hill first reported that Trump will hold a fundraiser for Cox, who the former president has endorsed, at Mar-a-Lago. The event will be held Oct. 17 at the resort.

According to the invitation, tickets for the private cocktail reception cost $1,776 per person, while a photo with Trump and Cox will cost $25,000.

A Goucher College poll released Sept. 19 measured support for the candidates vying to replace moderate Republican Gov. Larry Hogan, who can't seek a third term because of term limits. Around 53 percent of likely Maryland voters plan to vote for Moore, while 31 percent said they will vote for Cox.

Moore has outraised Cox 10 to 1 ahead of the Nov. 8 general election, The Washington Post reported. Cox had $130,000 to spend as of late August, which is not enough to finance a statewide mail campaign.

The private reception to be hosted by Trump is advertised as celebrating the 46th birthday of Cox’s wife, Valerie. Maryland law caps individual and business donations to political candidates at $6,000 per cycle, the Post said.

“Election deniers stick together, and now Dan Cox is going all the way down to Florida with less than 50 days left in the election to kiss the ring,” Moore campaign spokesman Carter Elliott IV said in a statement to the Post. “These men aren’t patriots, they’re a danger to our democracy. And, Dan Cox doing everything he can to cozy up to Trump is an incredible threat to the future of Maryland.”

Voters gave Moore ratings of 53 percent favorable, 33 percent unfavorable and 13 percent don't know.

Cox collected ratings of 30 percent favorable, 53 percent unfavorable and 14 percent don't know.

"Dan Cox's endorsement from former President Donald J. Trump and his own political views secured his primary win but remain at odds with the Democratic and independent voters he needs to build a winning coalition," said Mileah Kromer, director of the Sarah T. Hughes Center for Politics at Goucher College.

Cox has been a thorn in Hogan's side over the last few years, suing over the governor's stay-at-home orders and regulations in the early days of the pandemic and seeking unsuccessfully to impeach him for COVID-19 orders Cox called “restrictive and protracted.”

Cox listed defending law enforcement as his main priority heading into the primary election. His campaign website shows a video of him voting against police reform to limit the actions that officers can take during confrontations. Cox also wishes to protect gun rights, fight abortions and oppose teaching Critical Race Theory in schools.