By COLIN McEVERS

On Tuesday, Jan. 20, the five-member Governor’s redistricting commission held a closed-door vote on a proposed Congressional map which, if implemented, would threaten Maryland’s only Republican held district. Three of the five members of the gerrymandering initiative voted in favor of the proposition, and Governor Wes Moore has subsequently sent the map to be considered by the Maryland House of Delegates. 

This map would make District 1, currently represented by Congressman Andy Harris, stretch across the Bay Bridge into parts of Anne Arundel county and as far west as Howard county. There are 121,000 registered Democrats in Howard, as opposed to 48,000 Republicans. 

The commission was established in Nov., 2025 to purportedly ensure that the current map – passed in 2022 by the Maryland General Assembly – was “fair.” Governor Moore never elaborated on his definition of “fair.” 

Senate President Bill Ferguson (D- Baltimore City), an opponent of mid-cycle redistricting, defied the gerrymandering efforts of his party, joining the only other Republican on the commission and voting against it. Ferguson believes that the map could threaten other Congressional seats held by the Democratic Party, and noted major flaws in the entire redistricting process. 

“Ultimately, a flawed process has delivered a flawed product,” Ferguson said, citing the fact that the commission has not thoroughly communicated with the Board of Elections nor the Office of the Attorney General, which would inevitably need to tackle a massive lawsuit. Ferguson called the map “objectively unconstitutional,” and would likely kill a proposed bill in the Senate. 

Although polls demonstrate that the Maryland public does not see redistricting as a priority, Democratic leadership in the state clearly does. Ferguson – who also happens to be one of the only white male state leaders left in the Maryland political hierarchy  – is now throwing a rock into the gears of this very obvious plan. 

A plan which could make or break Moore’s potential 2028 Presidential bid. 

In August, 2025, California Governor Gavin Newsom became the first Democratic Governor to sign a bill into law which put mid-cycle redistricting on the ballot. Newsome encouraged other Democratic Governors to follow suit. 

Moore initially began considering the creation of a redistricting commission in the same time period, late Summer of 2025, before the commission came to fruition in Nov. 2025. 

Making Maryland an 8-0 Democratic state, while simultaneously booting the Chairman of the House Freedom Caucus – Congressman Andy Harris – would give Moore an enticing talking point in the very likely case that he decides to run for President in 2028. 

Then comes Bill Ferguson. 

Unfortunately for Ferguson, a white man, high-ranking Maryland Democrats have branded the redistricting effort not as a  blatant gerrymandering scheme (which it most certainly is), but as a push for racial equity. 

The proposed map would create another majority-minority district, meaning nearly half of Maryland’s Congressional districts would be majority-minority. 

Angela Alsobrooks (D-Maryland), the chair of the redistricting commission, says a key goal of the entire initiative was to “protect representation for historically underrepresented communities.”

Delegate C.T. Wilson, a member of the commission, pulled the race card to respond to those who are critical of the initiative. 

“I don’t see Republicans fighting for a protected class of people in a country with a history of racism and violence,” Wilson said. “And to be clear, [Republicans] still have a voice– they can still vote. My people couldn’t vote for the longest time.”

“[Republicans] can still vote.”

Hence, the proposed map has been branded as a tool to enhance racial equity in Maryland and fight back against the big, bad Republicans who are supposedly disenfranchising black voters across the nation. Maryland’s minority political leaders – Governor Moore, House Speaker Joseline Pena Melink, Delegate Wilson, Mayor Brandon Scott, Senator Alsobrooks, and others – vehemently support the gerrymandering effort. 

Meanwhile, Ferguson isn’t on board. Who knows how long it will be until he is replaced by a more “diverse” pick.

Maryland Maverick News is the fastest growing and most energetic right-wing news source in the state of Maryland. We also support conservative & independent college newspapers across the state to push back against blatantly biased, anti-free-speech publications.