Wes Moore Pushes Partisan Redistricting Despite Warnings from Fellow Democrats

Maryland Governor Wes Moore is forging ahead with a controversial mid-cycle redistricting plan, brushing aside warnings from even his own party that the move could backfire politically and legally.

In an interview Sunday on CBS’ Face the Nation, Moore defended his decision to form a redistricting commission, despite a pointed letter from Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson, a fellow Democrat, urging caution.

Ferguson didn’t mince words. “Mid-cycle redistricting twists rules for potential short-term advantage while undermining trust in institutions and ultimately, democracy,” he warned. “It is too risky and jeopardizes Maryland’s ability to fight against the radical Trump Administration.”

But Moore dismissed those concerns as a lack of urgency, claiming that “fighting for democracy is never risky.” The governor cast his plan as a counterattack to Republican-led redistricting in states like Texas and Florida, saying Maryland must not “sit on our hands because Donald Trump tells us to.”

Let’s be clear this isn’t about democracy. This is about raw political power.

Moore insists that the maps will be drawn by a “bipartisan commission,” but don’t be fooled. This is a coordinated move by Democrat-run states to claw back control in the House after Republican-led states passed their own redistricting plans based on actual population shifts not political desperation.

Some critical facts:

• Maryland currently has only one Republican representative in its entire congressional delegation, despite GOP voters making up nearly 30% of the electorate.

• In 2022, a Maryland judge struck down the state’s gerrymandered congressional map, calling it “an extreme partisan gerrymander.”

• Now, Moore is pushing to redraw lines again mid-decade just three years after the last maps were approved.

Moore argues that he’s simply responding to what GOP-led states have already done. But if he really believed in fairness, he wouldn’t be trying to change the rules halfway through the game.

Meanwhile, other blue states are joining the charge. In California, voters just passed Proposition 50, which guts the state’s so-called independent redistricting commission and returns redistricting power to the Democrat-dominated legislature. The goal? Erase Republican districts wherever possible.

This is part of a broader trend: Democrats spent years pretending to support "nonpartisan" redistricting until it no longer served their purposes. Now, they’re rushing to rewrite maps to cling to power, all while pretending to be defenders of democracy.

Moore tried to frame his redistricting commission as a response to Trump-era “constitutional abuse.” But the truth is simpler: Democrats are terrified of losing control, and they’ll rewrite the rulebook wherever they can to stop it.

Even Ferguson a loyal party insider sees the danger in going down this path. But Moore and his allies are charging ahead, proving once again that when Democrats preach democracy, they usually mean domination.

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