While a majority of Marylanders approve of the job Gov. Wes Moore is doing, they struggle to identify his achievements and offer only soft support, according to a new statewide poll from The Banner.

Respondents say Moore has met expectations and demonstrated leadership, but gave him low marks on pocketbook issues — like rising power bills or housing costs.

The poll comes with Moore roughly a year out from reelection, having grappled with a multibillion-dollar budget shortfall this year and a president who has targeted federal spending and federal workers in Maryland.

The Democratic governor’s approval rating among registered voters is at 54%, compared to 36% who disapprove and 10% who weren’t sure.

“There is a sense about him that one starts to get in this poll that he hasn’t galvanized people, that he hasn’t done enough in their eyes, in these times,” said Steve Raabe of OpinionWorks, who conducted the statewide poll of more than 900 voters for The Banner.

Of those polled, 20% said they strongly approve of the job Moore is doing as governor, with another 34% saying they somewhat approve, for the overall 54% approval rating. Of the 36% who disapproved of the job Moore is doing, 23% said they strongly disapprove and 13% somewhat disapproved.

A poll conducted by Annapolis advocacy firms over the summer pegged Moore’s approval at 50%.

Moore’s strongest support in the new poll, not surprisingly, came from Democrats, who offered a combined 73% approval rating, compared to 40% approval among unaffiliated voters and just 25% among Republicans.

A slim majority, 51%, said Moore was meeting or exceeding their expectations, while 36% said he was falling short of expectations.

Baltimore resident Elizabeth Gall, a 40-year-old registered Democrat, said she’s been “surprised in a good way” about Moore’s performance.

Instead of tacking to the center as some politicians do, Gall said Moore has worked to support federal workers and Marylanders affected by President Donald Trump’s administration and stood up to the president’s threats to send the National Guard into Baltimore.

“I do think he is a little grandstand-y in that he likes to be in the spotlight, but then again, what politician doesn’t?” she said. “You don’t run for office because you like hiding in your office and not talking to people.”

She thinks Moore — along with other governors —will need to continue to respond to federal cutbacks and actions that hurt Maryland.

“If Gov. Moore can do anything, it’s to continue to provide compassionate leadership when it feels like a lot of people are left out to sea,” Gall said.

Moore received his best approval marks for how he’s handled transportation (51%) and education (50%).

More people disapproved of Moore’s handling of utility costs (49%), taxes (48%) and housing costs (47%) than approved — a sign that Marylanders are stressed about rising costs and blaming the governor.

“All of these pocketbook issues are of utmost importance and one needs to find a way to define yourself and be working on those and fighting on those,” Raabe said.

Phyllis Ajayi, a Democrat from Baltimore, voted for Moore in 2022, but said he’s falling short of her expectations. She’s concerned about rising costs, including electric bills, car registrations and more. While she can shoulder the costs, others can’t — and that leaves her worried that elected officials aren’t doing enough.

“People are hurting,” Ajayi said. “I met him in person before he was governor and he’s a very personable and charismatic person.

“That doesn’t pay people’s bills.”

Ajayi, 48, works in health care administration and says Moore needs to make disciplined spending choices.

“We have very high taxes in Baltimore City, very high taxes in the state of Maryland,” she said. “For a lot of spending ... his heart might be in the right place. But we’re not making logical decisions with the money.”

Voters struggled to identify what Moore, now in his third year in office, has accomplished as governor so far.

The most common answer, at 19%, was that Moore is generally doing a good job in office — no specifics given.

Some poll respondents listed accomplishments that Moore certainly will not be putting on his reelection ads: 11% said his top accomplishment was raising taxes or making poor budget decisions, and 10% said the governor had accomplished nothing at all.

“He’s just not getting credit for doing specific things,” Raabe said.

Moore entered office in 2023 with a broad promise to “leave no one behind.” He’s backed an array of policy proposals, including creating a service program for young adults, pledging to end child poverty and making the state more competitive for businesses — but poll respondents largely didn’t highlight those as achievements.

He’s also dealt with crises, including the 2024 collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge and the slashed federal jobs and funding from Trump and the Republican-led Congress.

The Key Bridge response was cited by 3% of poll respondents as an accomplishment, while 6% noted fighting Trump’s agenda or standing up for democracy.

Kathy Helms, a Democrat from Frederick County, is worried about the federal workers who have been laid off and appreciates Moore’s efforts to stand up to Trump.

“Wes Moore is fighting this!” said Helms, 74. “Thank God he’s a governor with a good head on his shoulders and he’s fighting to get this [state] in the right direction.”

Helms also noted Moore’s response to the Key Bridge collapse as part of her assessment that he’s doing “a phenomenal job” in office.

“He has made arrangements for the financing of that bridge. He’s made arrangements for people to keep their jobs. ... Those are good Maryland jobs that are coming here so he’s responsible for that. Not Trump. Trump was against giving any money,” Helms said.

David Griggs, a retired physicist from Columbia, said Moore has met his low expectations. Griggs is an unaffiliated voter but previously ran for Congress as a Libertarian.

“I think he’s doing what I expected. A strongly liberal Democratic candidate for governor would do almost nothing that I think is good,” said Griggs, 75. “I think our taxes are too high and he’s not wisely spending the money.”

Griggs said he appreciates that government needs money for programs for the common good, such as schools and roads and police. But he questions whether taxes, vehicle registrations and other fees need to increase as much as they have.

“We have to pay for those kind of things, but I’m not sure the government is spending it efficiently,” Griggs said.

Results are based on a representative poll of 928 Maryland registered voters conducted Oct. 7-10 for The Banner by OpinionWorks LLC, a nonpartisan, independent research firm based in Annapolis. Voters were randomly selected from a statewide voter file and were texted a link to the poll, or they were recruited online through opt-in databases. The margin of error is 3.2 percentage points.

Support for this poll was provided by the Robert W. Deutsch Foundation.

Banner reporter Lee O. Sanderlin contributed to this article.