House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) has pledged to intervene in Maryland’s redistricting stalemate after the state’s Senate president, also a Democrat, broke ranks with his party to block the effort.
State Democrats’ redistricting bill, House Bill 488, breezed through the House in early February by a vote of 99-37, mostly along party lines. If passed, the bill would redraw Maryland’s congressional districts to make the state’s sole Republican-held seat significantly more competitive for Democrats. However, the legislation remains stalled in the Senate.
‘At some point, I am going to have to have a conversation with him if he continues to stand in the way of an up or down vote.’
Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson penned a letter to his colleagues detailing his refusal to bring a mid-cycle redistricting bill to the Senate floor for a vote.
“Despite deeply shared frustrations about the state of our country, mid-cycle redistricting for Maryland presents a reality where the legal risks are too high, the timeline for action is dangerous, the downside risk to Democrats is catastrophic, and the certainty of our existing map would be undermined,” Ferguson wrote.
He acknowledged that he and the Democratic Party are feeling pressure to “fight back” against Republicans’ redistricting efforts in Texas and North Carolina. However, he claimed that the risk to potentially “gain a seat not worth pursuing” was “too high.”
Ferguson explained that any attempt to redistrict would almost certainly prompt Republicans to challenge the map, potentially sending the case to the Maryland Supreme Court, which has never reviewed Maryland’s current congressional map.
“That means that any redrawing of the current map could reopen the ability for someone to challenge the current map and give the court the opportunity to strike it down, or even worse, redraw the map itself,” he wrote.
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Bill Ferguson. Katharine Wilson/The Baltimore Sun/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
Ferguson also speculated that if Maryland redraws its congressional map, other Republican states would likely follow suit.
“That means that Maryland’s potential gain of one seat is immediately eliminated, and, in fact, worsens the national outlook,” he concluded.
Ferguson argued that mid-cycle redistricting “twists rules for potential short-term advantage.” However, he claimed that was “not the reason we should not pursue it.”
“Simply put, it is too risky and jeopardizes Maryland’s ability to fight against the radical Trump Administration,” he told his fellow Democrats.
Bill Ferguson and Wes Moore. Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) has urged Ferguson to allow the Senate to vote on the bill.
“My ask is simple: Do not let the democratic process die in the Free State. Debate it, discuss it, make adjustments if necessary, and put it to a vote,” Moore stated during a Wednesday press conference.
Ferguson’s resistance to bringing the bill to the floor has prompted Rep. Jeffries to intervene in the dispute.
“All we are asking Senate President Ferguson to do is allow democracy to prevail. What that means is an up or down vote,” Jeffries told CNN over the weekend. “At some point, I am going to have to have a conversation with him if he continues to stand in the way of an up or down vote. But, hopefully, over the next few days, he will change his mind.”
A spokesperson for Ferguson told WBAL-TV in response to Jeffries’ comments, “There is nothing more for us to say or do.”
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News, Maryland, Hakeem jeffries, New york, Bill ferguson, Democratic party, Redistricting, Wes moore, Politics