Retired banking executive Ed Hale Sr. is switching parties to become a Republican as he hopes to unseat Democratic Gov. Wes Moore in 2026.

Hale, who owns the Baltimore Blast soccer team and was CEO of the former First Mariner Bank, announced his party switch Wednesday morning at Canton Waterfront Park, in the shadow of an office tower where he once ran the bank.

Hale said he planned to switch his party affiliation and start his candidacy paperwork later in the day.

He described his party switch as a pragmatic choice, saying polling he commissioned showed he had little shot to unseat Moore in the Democratic primary.

“There’s no way I can win against him,” Hale said.

Hale said he hadn’t polled a potential general election matchup against Moore.

Hale had been floating the idea of a party change for weeks, making Wednesday’s announcement of little surprise to politics watchers. He said he spent his time at the recent Maryland Association of Counties conference in Ocean City asking around for potential leads on campaign managers.

With his newfound Republican identity, Hale offered support to a litany of policy positions that skew conservative, blasting tax and fee increases, pushing for tougher penalties for juvenile offenders, decrying those who want to “defund the police” and promoting more use of fossil fuels instead of the “Green New Deal crap.”

Hale also offered proposals that have bipartisan support, such as making it easier to get business permits and expanding offerings for certification in the trades.

And he gave a mixed message on Republican President Donald Trump, who is deeply unpopular in Maryland as he axes federal jobs and pushes funding cuts.

“I’m not a Donald Trump guy,” Hale said, though he criticized Moore for “poking the bear.”

Hale said he met Trump years ago when he co-chaired the Miss USA pageant when it was held in Baltimore.

“He was actually very nice,” Hale said, adding: “But ... in this state, it would be very bad for me to have him affiliate with me and push me.”

Hale becomes the biggest name to get into the Republican primary for a chance to take on Moore, who has seen a slight dip in his approval but remains a deep-pocketed and formidable candidate.

Two Republicans have filed to run for governor: Carl A. Brunner Jr. of Carroll County, who owns a firearms training company, and John A. Myrick from Prince George’s County, who ran for the U.S. Senate last year.

Additionally, Del. Christopher Eric Bouchat from Carroll County and Kurt Wedekind, a farmer also from Carroll County, have announced their Republican campaigns.

Many are waiting to see if former Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, enters the 2026 race to reclaim his old job. Hogan lost a bid for the U.S. Senate last year and has not made any announcements about his future. Maryland limits governors to two consecutive terms, but it’s believed he could run again after leaving office.

Asked if he could win over die-hard Republican primary voters as a new member of the party who isn’t a full-throated Trump supporter, Hale said he’d win them over with his “common sense, pragmatism and business sense.”

“I think that, just by going out and reaching out and seeing them, I’m going to hopefully get them to believe in what I’m saying,” he said.

Though he’s always been registered as a Democrat, Hale said, he’s voted for Republicans over the years, including Hogan and former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.

One top Republican quickly threw cold water on Hale’s party-switching gubernatorial aspirations.

“Maryland Republicans deserve a nominee who represents our values — not just someone looking for a new political label,” state Sen. Stephen Hershey, the top-ranking Republican in that chamber, said in a statement.

Hershey noted that not only has Hale been registered as a Democrat but he’s donated to Democratic candidates over the years.

He added: “The Republican nomination for Governor will not be handed out to the highest-profile defector from the left. It must be earned.”

The Maryland Republican Party typically stays out of competitive primaries, but state party Chair Nicole Beus Harris said in a statement: “Every candidate will need to make their case as to why they are the best Republican choice. We look forward to working with whomever the primary voters choose as our nominee.”

The Democratic Governors Association jumped at the chance to criticize Hale for his party switching.

“After quickly realizing running in a Democratic primary was nothing more than a bizarre fantasy, Ed Hale Sr. is showing his true colors as an out-of-touch Republican candidate,” DGA spokesperson Sam Newton said in a statement.

The victor in the Republican primary, whether it’s Hale or another candidate, will face a tough battle against Moore, seen as a rising star nationally in the Democratic Party.

Even though Moore had some losses in the most recent General Assembly session, he began the year with more than $4 million in the bank and has been warmly welcomed on the Democratic speaker circuit.

Moore has begun to build his campaign team for his reelection bid, hiring a new campaign manager and adding a communications director.

Hale had plenty of criticism of Moore, alleging the governor is more focused on eventually running for president than on governing in Maryland.

“I’m running for governor of the state of Maryland. I’m not running for president of the United States like Wes Moore is. ... He says he’s not running for president but that’s not true, and I think everybody knows about that and he should be called out for that,” Hale said.

Hale grew up in Eastern Baltimore County and lives in Easton. He forged his way in the business world with shipping and trucking companies and got into the banking business when he led frustrated investors in a successful proxy fight to take control of the Bank of Baltimore in the early 1990s.

He later founded and was CEO of First Mariner Bank until 2011. First Mariner was acquired in 2018 by Howard Bank, which then merged with First National Bank in 2022.

Hale chose Canton Waterfront Park, a spot where he said he founded his trucking business in the 1970s, as the site of his campaign announcement. Nearby stands an office building that once housed First Mariner’s office along with an apartment where Hale lived.

Hale’s event started late, and as he waited for one straggling TV crew to arrive, he reminisced about his decades in business, mostly his successes.

“I hate talking about this because it sounds like I’m bragging, but that’s the way it was,” he said. “So the big thing here is: I like building things. I like making things. I like hiring people. That’s the way it is. What we have right now are these career politicians, the smiling faces that really, really don’t give a shit. You all know it. I do. I care.”