Maryland Gov. Wes Moore on Sunday defended the creation of a redistricting committee to edge out the one Republican-held seat in his state, saying he is “undecided why we needs to be taking part in by a unique algorithm than Texas, or than Florida, or than Ohio or all these different locations.”
“I need this bipartisan fee to have the ability to really communicate with the individuals and to have the ability to undergo their course of and simply merely say that if different states are going to undergo this course of, that we’re not simply going to sit down on our arms as a result of Donald Trump tells us to,” Moore stated on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan. “That is not the way in which this course of goes to work.”
Final week, Moore introduced he had shaped a fee to discover mid-decade redistricting within the state, following the lead of President Trump’s push to redraw districts in GOP-led states Texas, Missouri and North Carolina to internet extra seats for Republicans.
Whereas Democrats initially decried Mr. Trump’s efforts as an try to create an unfair benefit for Republicans, California’s Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom pushed a poll measure to redraw the state’s congressional districts to realize as much as 5 seats for Democrats. The measure, referred to as Prop 50, handed Tuesday with greater than 60% of the vote, and an energized Newsom held a rally in Houston on Saturday, the place he stated Texas had “woke us up.”
Eight of Maryland’s 9 Home seats are already occupied by Democrats, a state former Vice President Kamala Harris received by greater than 28 factors in 2024. A redistricting effort would goal the one Republican-held seat within the jap a part of the state.
Maryland’s fee is chaired by U.S. Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, a detailed ally of Moore’s, and is comprised of Senate President Invoice Ferguson, Maryland Home Speaker Adrienne A. Jones, former Legal professional Basic Brian Frosh and Cumberland Mayor Raymond Morriss.
Ferguson, a Democrat, has opposed the redistricting effort, writing in a letter final month that “mid-cycle redistricting for Maryland presents a actuality the place the authorized dangers are too excessive, the timeline for motion is harmful, the draw back threat to Democrats is catastrophic, and the understanding of our current map could be undermined.”
Ferguson stated final week the Democrats’ election victories “exhibits we needn’t rig the system to win.”
However Moore insisted Sunday that “preventing for democracy is rarely dangerous.” He famous that he and Ferguson agree that there’s a “disaster that Donald Trump has put us in.”
“The place we differ is the urgency that this second requires, the struggle that this second requires,” Moore stated. “And I personally am somebody who shouldn’t be going to permit Donald Trump to find out whether or not or not Maryland follows this concept of claiming, are we going to do the whole lot we will to verify we’re preserving our democracy.”
