Jeffries brings redistricting push to Maryland Senate president

by Bryan P. Sears, Maryland Matters
February 18, 2026

Gov. Wes Moore’s stalled effort to redraw the state’s eight congressional districts got a push Wednesday from a prominent national Democrat.

U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) spent several hours in Annapolis in an attempt to convince Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) to move the redistricting bill out of the dead-end Senate Rules Committee. Jeffries wants a vote by the full Senate before a key state election deadline passes next week.

Jeffries’ whirlwind tour of Annapolis included a meeting with Moore, the House Democratic Caucus and a 45-minute meeting with Ferguson, which Jeffries described as “a productive exchange of ideas.”

“I appreciated the opportunity to share my perspective,” Jeffries said. “He shared his perspective and we’ll see where it goes from here.”

The visit does not appear to have moved Ferguson. Much of the meeting centered on Maryland law and concerns that state courts — not federal courts — could strike down the map and create electoral chaos.

“I appreciated the meeting with Leader Jeffries this morning. It’s precisely because we want Leader Jeffries in the majority that most members in the Maryland Senate Democratic Caucus do not support moving forward with mid-cycle redistricting that will backfire in our State courts and lose Democrats in Congress,” Ferguson said in a statement following the meeting.

Ferguson did not meet with the press following the meeting after what was described as a cordial meeting, with Ferguson and Jeffries posing for photos after.

Maryland House Majority Leader David Moon (D-Montgomery) said he was pleased that Jeffries “put face time” in Annapolis to talk about what’s currently going on as a “national redistricting fight.” Moon highlighted redistricting efforts in Wisconsin and Florida for Republican-leaning districts that could extend beyond 2026.

“I think he’s [Jeffries] here … to help us understand both the national context in which this is happening, the multiple other states that are attempting to rig the midterm elections and also to help keep the conversation going while we’re still in session here,” Moon said. “I think if the Senate thinks this issue is going away in February, March or April, they are sadly mistaken.”

Jeffries in recent weeks has ramped up pressure on Ferguson in national appearances, and called for a vote. In one recent appearance, he declared that there were enough votes in the Maryland Senate to pass the bill.

Barring any action by Ferguson, at least 16 Senators would need to sign a petition calling for House Bill 488 to be brought out of committee purgatory to a floor vote. Twenty-four votes are needed to pass bills that are neither emergency bills nor proposed amendments to the state constitution. Because HB 488 would amend the Maryland Constitution, an additional five votes would be needed for the bill to pass.

Ferguson and sources familiar with the 34-member Democratic Caucus maintain that there are not 16 votes to petition the bill out of committee, much less meet any of the other thresholds.

Democrats hold supermajorities in both the Senate and the House of Delegates, where the redistricting bill moved at warp speed to passage two weeks ago. Since then, however, the bill has been mired in the Senate Rules Committee, and the redistricting standoff between Ferguson and Moore has continued.

Moore has repeatedly called for Ferguson to bring the bill out of committee, calling it undemocratic to do otherwise and at times warning that history will be a harsh judge.

“We know that right now, the House has already shown leadership in terms of debating and eventually having a vote,” Moore told reporters following the closed-door meeting with Jeffries and House Democrats. “We just want for the Maryland Senate to be able to fight for democracy, particularly when democracy is under such a unique threat.”

Jeffries’ visit — much like Vice President JD Vance’s travels to Indiana to press for a redistricting bill there — was an attempt to use a national political figure to break the logjam on a state legislative issue. Jeffries’ attempt to move Ferguson was delivered with more of a soft touch than a baseball bat.

Ferguson said redistricting was not the only thing he and Jeffries talked about.

“In addition to redistricting, we also discussed the importance of responding to the lawless Trump Administration through economic, social, and immigration policies,” Ferguson’s statement said. “The Senate of Maryland will continue advancing legislation that responds to Project 2025 by protecting Marylanders from this reckless federal Administration as systematically as they are pursuing it, and stands ready to partner with anyone working towards that shared objective.”

House Republicans sharply criticized Jeffries’ visit.

“So apparently, on this Ash Wednesday, we have somewhat of an unholy visit from Hakeem Jeffries from D.C., who’s bringing his D.C. politics to Maryland to apply pressure on the Senate for what we believe is partisan gerrymandering,” said House Minority Whip Del. Jesse T. Pippy (R-Frederick).

“We think it’s completely inappropriate, completely unnecessary. I think the people in this state have spoken very clearly how they feel about partisan gerrymandering,” Pippy said. “The fact that you have somebody leave Washington, D.C., to come out to Annapolis for the sole purpose of pressuring Senate Democrats into passing a gerrymandering congressional map. It’s really inexcusable.”

Del. Mark Fisher (R- Calvert), a member of the House Freedom Caucus, broadly criticized the majority party, saying “Democrats can’t seem to fix anything.”

“We’ve got poop going into the Potomac,” Fisher said, in reference to a ruptured sewage pipeline in Montgomery County.  “The governor is blaming on everybody else, and they’re focused on this? We have electricity bills that people can’t even afford to pay. The middle class, the poor, even people that are doing well, and the governor of Maryland is focusing on this? Fix Maryland first.”

It is unclear if Jeffries will return to Annapolis before the Feb. 24 election filing deadline for 2026 races in Maryland.

Jeffries told reporters he believed “conversations will continue as we move forward.” No additional meetings have been scheduled.

— Maryland Matters Reporters William J. Ford and Christine Condon contributed to this report.

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