Maryland Senate leader reverses, backs new congressional map

Maryland is moving closer to redrawing its congressional maps after the state’s top Senate Democrat reversed his longstanding opposition, a shift that could eliminate the state’s only Republican-held U.S. House seat in time for the 2028 election cycle.

Senate President Bill Ferguson said Friday that he now supports a special legislative session and a constitutional amendment to create a new map, citing a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that weakened provisions of the Voting Rights Act. “The rules have changed,” Ferguson said in a statement. “The Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act, and Southern legislatures are already using that ruling to wipe out minority districts.” He added that Maryland “must respond as the ground shifts under us.”

Ferguson had for months resisted calls from Governor Wes Moore and other Democratic leaders to redraw the state’s congressional districts, warning that an aggressive map could trigger costly legal challenges and political backlash. His opposition helped stall a redistricting bill passed by the House of Delegates in February. That measure, House Bill 488, proposed reshaping the 1st and 3rd congressional districts in ways that would put...