The dictionary defines a war of words as a public, often long-lasting and intense, argument between individuals and groups that focuses on disagreements over policies, actions, or beliefs.
That is certainly true with regard to the ongoing dialogue, deliberations, and decisions on current efforts in Annapolis to redraw the boundaries of Maryland’s Congressional districts prior to the midterm primary and general elections later this year.
In early November 2025, Governor Moore created and appointed five members to aGovernor’s Redistricting Advisory Committee (GRAC). His GRAC appointments were Democratic U.S. Senator Angela Alsobrooks as chair, Democratic President of the Maryland Senate Bill Ferguson, now former Democratic Speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates Adriene Jones, former Democratic Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh, and Republican Mayor of Cumberland Ray Morriss as members.
Governor Moore originally said, “My commitment has been clear from day one — we will explore every avenue possible to make sure Maryland has fair and representative maps.”
The Washington Post Editorial Board did not believe that. They published: “This is brass knuckle politics, a flex of raw power, but Moore is trying to pretend he is being principled. Make no mistake, what the governor really wants is to disenfranchise his Republican constituents, especially in the conservative Eastern Shore and Western panhandle. Moore capitulated to escalating pressure from the left because he wants to be president. While Moore enjoys delivering lectures about fighting for democracy, he has not practiced what he preaches.”
Governor Moore’s more recent words on creating GRAC acknowledged his motives on redistricting are more in line with his ambition to maintain his position as a rising star in national Democratic politics. In other words, he is saying he is all in on national Democratic Party efforts responding to Republican states where they are redrawing congressional district boundary maps to help reduce the number of Democrats in Congress.
On January 20, 2026, in a closed door one hour meeting, 3 of 5 GRAC members voted yes to submit a proposed new congressional district boundary “concept map” to Governor Moore and the General Assembly, as a guide to redraw all the state’s congressional district maps. The most significant change is for Congressional District 1 that currently includes all of the Eastern Shore, Cecil County, Harford County, and part of eastern Baltimore County. The conceptual map would include all of the Eastern Shore except Cecil County, part of Anne Arundel County, and as far as Columbia in Howard County.
Voting yes on this conceptual map were Alsobrooks, Joselene Pena – Melnyk, new Speaker of the House since last December, and Brian Frosh. Voting no were Ferguson and Morriss.
Following the vote, Alsobrooks said the vote followed a “transparent redistricting process.” Ferguson and Morriss have bluntly disagreed with that assessment.
Ferguson has said, “The map fails the Governor’s own test. It breaks apart more neighborhoods and communities than our existing map, and it fails the constitutional requirement of one person, one vote. We heard from no Boards of Elections. We heard nothing from the Office of the Attorney General of Maryland, which would have to defend this process and outcome. We heard no testimony to the impact on our election cycle. Ultimately, a flawed process has delivered a flawed product.” Ferguson also said the map was “objectively unconstitutional.” He said the new map will likely result in court challenge. He also suggested the proposed new maps could lead to the Democratic party losing several of the seven of eight U.S. House seats they hold presently. Ferguson noted the lack of public support for new maps at this time. “Our state’s residents have been clear, in front of this commission and through polling.
The overwhelming majority do not want a new congressional map. They want their government focused on fostering growth, affordability, and real protections against this lawless federal Administration. The Senate of Maryland remains focused on this important agenda as we continue to try to tackle a $1.4 billion budget shortfall in Maryland’s state budget.” Ferguson also concluded the outcome of the final GRAC meeting was “pre-ordained” and lacking in public transparency.
Morriss has been equally blunt: “After a while, it became obvious that definition of “fair” that was being put out there was what was fair for the Democratic Party. I think what the public got from this was what the Democratic party wanted for the state of Maryland, and for their national agenda. I don’t think the public really got a real — let’s use the word “fair”— a real, fair analysis of the congressional districts in the state. It was not necessarily, in my mind, what was fair to all of the voters of the state of Maryland. Especially in this case, the Republicans, and the unaffiliated voters.”
The Executive Director of League of Women Voters of Maryland has said “GRAC demonstrated it is more loyal to a single party’s desire to redistrict than to the people of Maryland. The entire process is a mess.” The Executive Director of Common Cause Maryland has said, “the commission suffered from a glaring lack of transparency.”
Despite these concerns, a House committee approved a redistricting bill last week and final approval in the full House is expected this week.
Senate approval of any redistricting bills is not expected anytime in this session.
Even if Senate President Ferguson and a majority of the Senate Democratic Caucus do agree to move forward on this issue, it will not mean a cease fire on a continuing war of words.
Opponents of the current redistricting efforts are prepared to launch a legal challenge. The results could be comparable to 2022 when a judge ruled a new proposed map was an “extreme gerrymander” and the General Assembly had to write and approve a less gerrymandered one.
David Reel is a public affairs consultant and public relations consultant who lives in Easton.
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