Ed Hale Sr., a Baltimore businessman, sports team owner and longtime Democrat, ended speculation about his party affiliation and declared Wednesday that he will run for governor as a Republican.

Hale described himself as a moderate, but said his party switch was rooted in political pragmatism more than ideology.

“There’s no way I could win running against Wes Moore with that machine he’s got,” Hale said of the incumbent Democratic governor. “He takes all the money and oxygen out of the room. I can’t do it. I’m a pragmatist and I’m a moderate person. That’s just the way I am.”

Hale made the announcement — one that was expected — in an east Baltimore waterfront park that he once owned and sold to the city. It came after he hired Annapolis pollster Patrick Gonzales to look at a head-to-head race between himself and Moore.

“I don’t believe I had a chance, based on the polling that was done, to beat him,” Hale said of Moore. “I had a chance, but it was not as good as it would be running as a Republican.”

Hale said later that the poll only looked at him against Moore and did not include other Republicans who have filed or announced for governor, or who are the subject of speculation.

Hale, 78, is well-known in the business community but is an unpolished political candidate.

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