After months of disagreement, Maryland Democrats appear to be closer than ever to eliminating the state\u2019s lone Republican-held congressional district in time for the 2028 cycle.<\/p>\n
Bill Ferguson, the leader of the Maryland Senate and the face of Democratic opposition to redrawing maps this year, said in an interview with a local news outlet on Friday that the Supreme Court\u2019s decision on the Voting Rights Act, which led to a scramble among Republican-led legislatures across the South to dismantle or dilute majority-Black, Democratic-controlled districts, forced him to change his calculus.<\/p>\n
Mr. Ferguson for months had been at odds with Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat who has been among the loudest champions of redrawing Maryland\u2019s map ahead of the 2026 midterms to help Democrats fight a Republican flurry of partisan gerrymanders.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow, the rules have changed,\u201d Mr. Ferguson said in a statement. \u201cThe Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act, and Southern legislatures are already using that ruling to wipe out minority districts. Maryland must respond as the ground shifts under us.\u201d<\/p>\n
While there seems to be unsettled debate about the process, the likelihood of new maps in Maryland amounts to the latest signal that the redistricting wars of 2028 are shaping up to be just as fiercely contested as they have been this spring. Multiple states, including New York, Colorado and Georgia, have already started exploring the process of redistricting for the next cycle.<\/p>\n
Mr. Ferguson wants to draft a ballot initiative to place in front of Maryland voters this November that would alter the state\u2019s Constitution and, in his view, protect a new map from a court challenge. He hopes to convene the Maryland General Assembly after the June 23 primary.<\/p>\n
Mr. Moore does not want to wait that long, according to a spokesman for his office. He would rather the legislature convene as soon as possible to enact a new map and then ask voters to approve it via referendum this November. He is also open to including a state constitutional amendment in that process, the spokesman said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m glad to hear the Senate president is willing to have a conversation about it,\u201d Mr. Moore said at a news event on Friday. \u201cI think it needs to include the maps.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Mr. Ferguson, even agreeing to the possibility of drawing new maps for 2028 represents a shift in attitude. At the height of the redistricting wars this spring, Mr. Ferguson\u2019s opposition to redrawing Maryland\u2019s maps ahead of this year\u2019s elections flummoxed party leaders from Representative Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic leader in the House, to Mr. Moore, who has grown a national profile during his time in Annapolis.<\/p>\n
An amendment to the state Constitution would require votes from 29 of the state\u2019s 34 Democratic state senators. It would then need to pass the House, where Democrats hold a supermajority. Any special session would need the blessing of Mr. Moore.<\/p>\n
Mr. Ferguson first disclosed his change of heart to WYPR, an NPR affiliate in Baltimore.<\/p>\n
While Mr. Ferguson appears to have shifted toward an eventual redrawing of the state\u2019s maps, his reason for obstructing the 2026 push remains.<\/p>\n