Just days after the Virginia elections, two Democratic candidates in Maryland have made the first ad buys of the state’s 2022 gubernatorial primary.

       Author and former nonprofit chief executive Wes Moore is running radio ads on five urban-format and gospel stations in the Washington area, targeting voter-rich Prince George’s and Montgomery counties. They will run through Thanksgiving.

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       Baltimore-based business owner and tech entrepreneur Mike Rosenbaum is running ads until the end of the year on social media platforms and “connected TV platforms,” such as YouTube TV and Hulu.

       The ad buys are an early sign of the competitive nature of the race and potentially how expensive it could be to fill the seat being vacated by Gov. Larry Hogan (R), who is term-limited. Analysts have previously said the primary could be one of the most costly in state history, largely based on the experience and sheer number of candidates in the race.

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       A dozen candidates, including former Obama administration officials and former and current state and local officials, are running in the two major-party primaries.

       Neither Moore nor Rosenbaum, who are using the early ads to introduce themselves to voters, has previously run for public office. They have less name recognition than some of the other candidates in the crowded field.

       Rosenbaum’s 30-second ad, “Possible,” opens with him introducing himself and saying that he is running for governor “because talented people across Maryland are systematically locked out of opportunity because of their race, class or gender.” He talks about his businesses, where he says he helped build careers in “emerging industries,” and spotlights his recently released jobs plan, which he predicts will create 250,000 jobs and “raise wages by thousands of dollars.”

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       Moore starts his one-minute radio ad by introducing himself. “Too many people do everything right and still can’t get ahead. It’s time to change that,” he says. “I’m Democrat Wes Moore. I’m running for governor because in this moment, these systemic challenges require generational change.”

       He goes on to talk about his upbringing and the loss of his father at the age of 3, becoming the first Black Rhodes Scholar at Johns Hopkins University and a captain in the U.S. Army. He says he knows “how to bring people together around a bold vision” and wants to make Maryland more equitable by increasing “work, wages and wealth.”

       Moore also is running print ads in the Prince George’s Suite and the Washington Informer, two Black-owned publications in the Washington region. The print ads will run for four weeks. Moore is spending in the “low five figures” for the ads. Rosenbaum’s ads are a six-figure digital buy.

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       The primary is June 28. Moore and Rosenbaum are among nine candidates vying for the Democratic nomination. The other candidates include former U.S. education secretary John B. King Jr., former U.S. labor secretary Tom Perez, State Comptroller Peter Franchot, former state attorney general Douglas F. Gansler, former Prince George’s County executive Rushern L. Baker III, former nonprofit executive Jon Baron and former candidate for Montgomery County Council Ashwani Jain. There are three candidates running for the Republican nomination, including Kelly M. Schulz, the state’s commerce secretary; perennial candidate and former state lawmaker -Robin Ficker; and Del. Daniel L. Cox, a conservative lawmaker from Frederick County.