After months of internal disagreements, Maryland Democrats appear open to redrawing the state’s congressional map.
Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson stated his commitment: “My job has been the same from day one: Protect Maryland in the fight against Donald Trump.”
Ferguson explained that he had previously held firm on Maryland’s 7-1 congressional map, saying, “I wasn’t willing to gamble Democratic seats on a legal fight we could lose.” He added, “Now, the rules have changed. The Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act, and Southern legislatures are already using that ruling to wipe out minority districts.”
Earlier this month, Governor Wes Moore had not explicitly called for a special legislative session to address redistricting.
Moore has been a strong advocate for redistricting this year, pushing for Maryland to join other Democratic-controlled states in responding to new maps that favor Republicans. “They want us to sit down and be quiet about it. Absolutely not,” Moore said. “I’m never going to stop fighting for our democracy and anyone who’s waiting for me to stop fighting for democracy, they are going to be waiting a h of a long time. I believe in this moment. We’ve got to understand what is happening. We are watching a federal administration that is trying to rig and steal elections.”
In August 2025, Moore ordered Maryland’s map to be redrawn after Republican-led states ordered maps redrawn in a partisan manner. A new map drawn by the Governor’s Redistricting Advisory Commission reshaped the 1st and 3rd congressional districts, potentially putting Maryland’s sole Republican member of Congress at a disadvantage.
The House of Delegates has passed redistricting bill (House Bill 488), but it is currently stalled in the Senate Rules Committee.
Ferguson had publicly disagreed with Moore’s stance on redistricting, opting not to take up the issue during the legislative session. Ferguson was notably absent from Moore’s recent list of election endorsements, highlighting internal party divisions.
Rep. Andy Harris, who has represented Maryland’s 1st Congressional District since 2011, is the lone Republican in the state’s congressional delegation.
Ferguson said, “Maryland must respond as the ground shifts under us. I’m in active conversations with my caucus about a special session and constitutional amendment to address the 2022 Maryland court redistricting decision and new U.S. Supreme Court VRA decision, with the aim of putting this before Maryland voters in November.”
“We’ll meet after the primary to prepare — we must do this right, without risking what we have already won,” he added.
Ferguson plans to draft a ballot initiative for Maryland voters this November to alter the state constitution and protect the new map from court challenges. He hopes to convene the Maryland General Assembly after the June 23 primary.
Moore’s office stated he does not want to wait that long; he would prefer the legislature convene as soon as possible to enact a new map, then ask voters to approve it via referendum this November. He is also open to including a state constitutional amendment in that process.
“I’m glad to hear the Senate president is willing to have a conversation about it,” Moore said at a recent news event. “I think it needs to include the maps.”
For Ferguson, even agreeing to draw new maps for 2028 represents a shift in attitude. At the height of the redistricting conflicts this spring, Ferguson’s opposition to redrawing Maryland’s maps ahead of this year’s elections had flummoxed party leaders from Representative Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic leader in the House, to Moore.