David Moon

David Hyon Moon (born January 28, 1979) is an American activist, lawyer, and politician.

He is currently a member of the Maryland House of Delegates representing District 20 in Montgomery County, Maryland.

Since 2023, he has served as the Majority Leader of the Maryland House of Delegates.

Moon was born in Takoma Park, Maryland, to Korean immigrants.

He graduated from Walt Whitman High School.

He later attended Tufts University, where he earned a B.A. degree in sociology and psychology in 2001, and the American University Washington College of Law, where he earned a J.D. degree in 2004.

Moon has worked for various activist groups, including as the chief operating officer of FairVote from 2004 to 2009 and as the program director for Demand Progress since 2011.

He also worked as the campaign manager for Jamie Raskin's 2006 campaign for the Maryland Senate and Nancy Navarro's 2009 campaign for the Montgomery County Council.

In 2010, Moon opened his own consulting firm, Moon Strategies.

In 2011, Moon founded the blog Maryland Juice, which focused primarily on Maryland politics.

In August 2013, OR Books published Hacking Politics, a book Moon co-wrote with Patrick Ruffini and David Segal.

In 2013, Moon launched a campaign for the Maryland House of Delegates, seeking to succeed Heather Mizeur and Tom Hucker, both of whom had sought other office in 2014.

During the Democratic primary, he was endorsed by state senator Jamie Raskin, various local labor unions and organizations, including the Maryland League of Conservation Voters, CASA de Maryland, and NARAL Pro-Choice Maryland.

Moon also ran on a slate alongside Raskin, state delegate Sheila E.. Hixson, and William C. Smith Jr. He won the Democratic primary on June 24, 2014, receiving 18.5 percent of the vote, and later won the general election.

In December 2014, Moon joined efforts to draft U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren in the 2016 United States presidential election.

Moon was sworn into the Maryland House of Delegates on January 14, 2015, becoming the first Korean-Americans elected to the Maryland General Assembly alongside Mark S. Chang.

During his tenure, he became known for defending bills during floor debates, especially criminal justice bills.

In May 2023, House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones named Moon as House Majority Leader, succeeding Marc Korman, who had been appointed as chair of the House Environment and Transportation Committee.

In 2015, he introduced a bill that would exclude possessing 10 grams or less of marijuana as a parole violation.

In December 2016, following state senator Jamie Raskin's election to the United States House of Representatives, Moon applied to serve the remainder of Raskin's term in the Maryland Senate.

His candidacy was backed by the local Service Employees International Union, CASA de Maryland, and Progressive Maryland.

The Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee voted 19–8 to nominate delegate William C. Smith Jr. to fill the vacancy.

During the 2016 legislative session, following the Killing of Freddie Gray, Moon introduced legislation that would make it a crime for police not to seek medical help for a detainee that requests it.

He later withdrew the bill, citing unproductive legislative debate.

In 2017, Moon led efforts to pressure the Hogan administration to implement tougher water pollution regulations on the state's coal-fired power plants.

During the 2018 legislative session, following the 2017 Las Vegas shooting that left 60 dead and about 867 injured, Moon introduced a bill to ban bump stocks.

The bill passed and was signed into law by Governor Larry Hogan.

He also criticized bills that would allow schools to arm teachers.

During the 2023 legislative session, Moon introduced a bill to audit the state's behavioral health and drug treatment system to identify ways to support community-based preventative services.

The bill passed and was signed into law by Governor Wes Moore.

Moon supports the legalization of recreational marijuana in Maryland, repeatedly introducing bills to legalize and tax its sale.

During the 2019 legislative session, Moon introduced a bill to repeal attempted suicide as a criminal offense.

During the 2021 legislative session, Moon spoke in support of the Maryland Police Accountability Act, a police transparency and accountability reform package, and the Dignity Not Detention Act, which would prohibit jurisdictions from contracting with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to detain undocumented people in local jails.

In 2022, Moon introduced legislation that would require all law enforcement agencies to wear body-worn cameras by 2025.

During the 2023 legislative session, Moon introduced legislation to prohibit the Maryland State Police from using facial-recognition technology.

In January 2019, Moon authored a letter to the Maryland Board of Public Works asking the board to reject a Columbia Gas Transmission proposal to build an oil pipeline in Washington County.

In September 2022, Moon authored a letter in support of a proposed U.S. Energy Department rule that would increase the efficiency level of gas furnaces to 95 percent.

Moon was appointed to the Marijuana Legalization Work Group by House Speaker Michael E. Busch in 2019, where he helped develop the state's framework for marijuana legalization.

In 2021 and 2023, Moon introduced bills that would decriminalize the possession of marijuana paraphernalia.

In November 2019, he endorsed Warren in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries, and later ran for convention delegate to the 2020 Democratic National Convention pledged to Warren.