“I think the difference between me and the other individuals running is really a record versus people’s rhetoric,” Baker told me. “That’s really what it boils down to, not about the policy.”

Baker’s predecessor as county executive in Prince George’s County was arrested for corruption, and Baker has been widely applauded for cleaning up the county and bringing businesses back to the area. Where Jealous is proposing sweeping policy changes like free state college tuition, single-payer health insurance and the legalization of marijuana, Baker’s plans are more modest—he wants to expand Maryland’s medical-marijuana system, and talks about reviving Baltimore’s Red Line transportation project, which was scrapped by Larry Hogan early in his term. Jealous tells the story of his family emerging from slavery to become activists, social workers, and educators, while Baker’s origin story is less sweeping—he was a military kid whose political awakening began with Richard Wright’s Black Boy, and who became a politician because he thought it was the best way to help people.

“When I read that novel, it let me know how blessed I was to have the type of parents that I did. And that made me feel guilty—that is what made me feel guilty about not doing anything at all with the blessings I had,” Baker said. “That’s what led me to the interest in public service.”

Baker subtly contrasts his approach to politics with a story about Howard “Pete” Rawlings, an influential state legislator who was Baker’s mentor. Early in his time in the Maryland House of Delegates, Baker gave a stem-winding speech about the budget. Rawlings came up to Baker afterwards and said, “That was a good speech. How many votes did you change?”

“I looked on the board. We had 141 members of the house, and I think two people voted with me,” Baker said. Rawlings told him, “If you really want to learn how to get things done for the people you care about, come see me. If you simply want to make speeches, then continue to do that, but you’ll never impact the people you care about.”

Baker says he learned a valuable lesson about politics, and the importance of results over rhetoric. “That was the beginning of a relationship where I went to see him, and he taught me how to actually get legislation through that can help the people that I wanted to affect most,” Baker said. “He taught me how to get legislation through the general assembly. Because if you can’t do that, you can’t get a single-payer health-care system, because you don’t know how the system works and you don’t know how to get it through.” Baker told me that lesson “is the difference between myself and the six individuals that are running for governor.”

Baker has compiled an impressive list of high-profile local endorsements: The Washington Post’s editorial board, Steny Hoyer, the number-two Democrat in the U.S. House, Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen, and former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley among them. Jealous, by contrast, has racked up a number of endorsements from national figures with their eyes on the 2020 presidential race, including Senators Sanders, Kamala Harris, and Cory Booker. He also managed to snatch the endorsement of the Maryland teachers’ union out from under Baker, whose record on education is seen as a potential weakness, as well as winning the Baltimore Sun editorial board’s endorsement.