IT’S a question that has been put to Wes Moore several times since his election as Maryland state governor last November. However, on each occasion the 44-year-old Democrat, who is increasingly being seen as a rising star in American politics, states that his focus is not the US presidency, but on doing the job for which he was elected.

“My ambition is, I plan on being the most consequential governor in the history of the state of Maryland, and that we want to be able to build policies in Maryland that are not just going to benefit Maryland [but the places] that everyone else around Maryland is going to pay attention to,” Moore replied when the Jamaica Observer asked him about his political ambition last Saturday at Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston.

“So when we were the first state to have a service year option; when we were the first state to now have a pathway for health care and dental care for members of the national guard, there are now states who are contacting us and asking me about how they can do that in their own states. So, that’s the kind of path that we want to take, and I just know that our state is ready for that,” said Moore, whose mother, grandparents, great grandparents are Jamaicans.

The service year option, signed into law by Moore in April this year, gives high school graduates in Maryland the option of working for a year in the public service instead of going to college immediately after graduation.

Maryland officials are hoping that the policy will strengthen the pool of workers for state and local governments, and expand Maryland’s service opportunities.

During the signing ceremony Moore listed conservation, education, housing, veteran support, and re-entry work for people returning from incarceration as some of the areas in which graduates can serve.

“It is completely your choice. We just want to make sure that we’re offering our young people the chance to make our state better,” he said.

However, despite Moore’s focus on achieving his mandate in Maryland, there is excitement building among Democrats who see him as a possible leader of the party in the future and a potential candidate for the White House in 2028.

In fact, an NBC News report of the House Democrats’s annual issues conference in Baltimore in March this year, at which Moore spoke, stated that the line to take a photo with him was “showing no signs of dissipating”, despite the fact that US President Joe Biden was backstage, minutes away from making his address.

“We’re going to have to suspend the Wes Moore selfie line. Governor, we’re going to have to ask you to take your seat shortly,” NBC News said the Democratic caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar of California joked from the podium. “You’ll be seated next to my wife. I’m sure she’ll ask for a couple selfies there, too.”

The NBC report also quoted Steny Hoyer of Maryland, a former House majority leader who introduced Moore, as saying, “I saw this young man — and I’ve been in politics for 120 years — I said, ‘This guy’s got it’.”

On Saturday, when the Observer pressed Moore on the issue of a presidential run, especially if he is approached by members of his party, he said, “I’m having a lot of fun with what I’m doing right now, and I’m focused on this. The truth is, no one approached me or pulled me in to run for governor so I’m not a person who is motivated by what other people tell me is best. The thing that I know is, the work we’re doing right now, I’m loving it and we’re making a big impact so I’m very happy.”