Hakeem Jeffries Pushes for Maryland Redistricting

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries fired another volley in the nationwide congressional redistricting battle Wednesday with an attempt to persuade Maryland lawmakers to draw out the state’s sole Republican member of Congress.

“I had a wonderful meeting with Gov. Wes Moore, with Speaker [Joseline] Peña-Melnyk, and with the Democrats in the Maryland House of Delegates to thank them for their leadership and for their courage in advancing a competitive congressional map,” Jeffries, D-N.Y., said at a Wednesday press conference after having met with Democrats in the state’s capital of Annapolis.

Maryland Democrats have had tough luck in the past in their attempts to draw Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., from office.

In 2021, the Maryland General Assembly passed a redistricting bill that would likely have removed Harris from Congress. It was ultimately challenged by Republicans, going to the Supreme Court of Maryland, which ruled the map was overly partisan and violated the state’s constitution.

Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson has opposed another attempt at redistricting, arguing it could backfire on Democrats in court and lacks the necessary votes on the Senate floor.

But Jeffries said Wednesday that he was trying to convince Ferguson to allow a pro-Democrat redistricting bill passed in the House of Delegates to proceed to the state’s Senate. Moore is a supporter of redistricting.

Ferguson “articulated his perspective, I articulated our perspective … that the best course of action at this moment is to allow an up-or-down vote in the Maryland state Senate so that we have an opportunity to move forward in a transparent way and see where things will land,” said Jeffries.

Jeffries additionally said in a statement that “Bill Ferguson authentically believes that the votes don’t exist in the state Senate to move forward.”

After the meeting, Ferguson indicated in a statement that he was still not on board with voting on redistricting in the state Senate.

“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,” said Ferguson.

Harris has been dismissive when asked publicly about redistricting.

“They tried this four years ago. They lost in court miserably,” he said in January. “We think they’ll lose again. We think if they try, we’ll go to court and we’ll actually try to get a second seat in Maryland.