Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson announcement this week His failure to advance a new congressional map has sparked a round of infighting in the state's Democratic Party.
But even in the face of pressure from Democratic Party leaders statewide and nationally, Ferguson stood his ground, saying his chamber didn't have the votes to pass mid-decade redistricting.
“I wouldn't be able to do my job if I didn't know where my members were,” Ferguson told NBC News on Friday.
Ferguson is one of a small group of lawmakers in Maryland and across the country are openly resisting their party's demand to redraw congressional boundaries ahead of next year's midterm elections, amid a feverish arms race over redistricting between Republican- and Democratic-led states.
In a lengthy letter to Senate colleagues Tuesday night explaining why he would not call a special legislative session, Ferguson said “the risk of redrawing the congressional map in Maryland is too great.”
Since then, the pressure has only increased. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore told reporters earlier this week that “one person cannot stop the process” and “a special session is out of the question, no matter what others say.” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., told reporters that Maryland “understands the challenge and, as we have seen in many other states, will respond aggressively and appropriately at short notice.”
What began over the summer with President Donald Trump urging Texas Republicans to reconsider their line in Congress to shore up their majority in the U.S. House of Representatives has led to a spate of states across the country adopting or considering new maps outside the usual 10-year redistricting cycle.
In the interview, Ferguson expressed concern about the broader influence of additional states joining the fight to pass more partisan maps.
“The path we're on is unsustainable and no one wants or feels that they should unilaterally disarm. I don't think that's what's needed,” he said. “I think this brings us closer to the reality that if we want to protect this democracy in the future, we are going to have to forge a different path.”
Ferguson said he was in talks with other state leaders – Republicans and Democrats – about realigning the arms race.
“There is a fundamental question that I hope every House leader across the country in state legislatures is asking themselves,” he said. “What kind of country do we want to be? And who are we at this moment, when everything is so fragile and tense. Do we reflect different values to show the way forward as a nation, or are we fighting to the death one choice at a time?”
But with control of Congress likely to be won in the 2026 elections, and with it the fate of much of the rest of Trump's second-term agenda, both sides have plenty of political incentive to draw up new maps.
Virginia Democrats took the first step to redrawing their state's map this week, which will require changing their redistricting commission through a constitutional amendment. California voters are expected to approve a map Tuesday that calls for five new Democratic seats in an attempt to neutralize new Texas district lines.
Missouri And North Carolina passed new maps designed to give the Republican Party an additional seat in the House of Representatives. Ohio bipartisan redistricting commission approved a new map that would boost Republicans on Friday, but not to the extent some Democrats feared.
National Democrats keep up the pressure Illinois Democratic lawmakers will draw a new map, and Indiana Republican Gov. Mike Brown called a special session to pursue redistricting, although it is unclear whether there is enough support in the GOP-controlled Legislature for such an effort.
Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said this summer that people could “expect” a mid-decade redraw in the state. Kansas Republicans are considering a similar move.
Speaking about political realities, Ferguson argued that nothing is inevitable.
“Nothing happens just because. It happens because people make choices,” he said. “At the end of the day, these are not just lines on a map. These are fundamental questions about the future of our democracy that are embedded in how elections are called and who represents the people of a jurisdiction.”
