Maryland Gov. Wes Moore says “we’re not going to sit down on our palms as a result of Donald Trump tells us to” on redistricting

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore on Sunday defended the creation of a redistricting committee to edge out the only Republican-held seat in his state, saying he is “undecided why we must be taking part in by a distinct algorithm than Texas, or than Florida, or than Ohio or all these different locations.” 

“I need this bipartisan fee to have the ability to truly converse 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 palms 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 fashioned 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, often known 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 only Republican-held seat within the japanese a part of the state. 

Maryland’s fee is chaired by U.S. Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, an in depth 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. 

Maryland regulation dictates congressional maps are drawn by the state Meeting, the place Democrats have a supermajority. Moore must name a particular session of the Meeting to maneuver ahead with the hassle. 

However 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 present map can 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 isn’t 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 are able to to ensure we’re preserving our democracy.”