A Desperate Man
Bill Ferguson must be in serious primary trouble against Bobby LaPin.
At no point did I think Senate President Bill Ferguson was facing serious trouble from his Democratic Primary Challenger Bobby LaPin…
Democratic leaders have quietly developed plans to take up redistricting in a mid-July special session.
If both chambers of the Maryland General Assembly approve the redistricting plan with three-fifths majorities, a proposed amendment to the state constitution will appear on the November ballot. The new map would take effect ahead of the 2028 election.
The amendment would reverse a 2022 ruling from Senior State Circuit Court Judge Lynne Battaglia that struck down a congressional map designed to favor Democrats, said Mennatalla Ibrahim, a reporter for The Baltimore Sun.
“It seems to us like that language is still being developed, and it’ll be a little different from what we’ve seen in the past year in the legislation that has come out of the past legislative session,” Ibrahim told WTOP.
The fact that Ferguson has not only talked about the potential need for a Special Session but is now joining House Speaker Josaline Pena-Melnyk to prepare for a July Special Session on the issue speaks volumes about how Ferguson views his race against LaPin.
As we know, Ferguson has been the rock that has prevented Maryland from moving forward with Congressional Redistricting until now. Ferguson correctly stated that such a mid-cycle redistricting effort was legally murky and probably unconstitutional under the State Constitution. That’s a position he has held since at least October of 2025 when the redistricting wars really ramped up in the states. He stood firm even as his own chamber sniped at him during the Legislative Session.
However, Ferguson seems to have softened his position after the Louisiana v. Callais decision that ruled Louisiana’s districts were racially gerrymandered, changing the court’s interpretation of that section of the Voting Rights Act.
However, Ferguson’s original calculus has not changed. A mid-cycle redistricting effort is still legally murky and still probably unconstitutional under the State Constitution. A U.S. Supreme Court case has not changed that.
But what can get Ferguson to change his mind?
I don’t have any doubt at this point that Ferguson is in the race of his life against Bobby LaPin, and his flip-flopping on a Redistricting Special Session is the tell that gives it away. Throwing the carrot out there now gives those voters still on the fence another reason not to throw Ferguson out next week.
Does the cynic in me believe that all of this is just lip service to make sure that Ferguson doesn’t lose his primary and that, after June 23rd, this goes away? Yes, I do. But the message is clear. And one week from now, we will know whether or not this was a shrewd move by a political winner of the last act of a desperate man. Only time (and the voters) will tell.