Maryland Gov. Wes Moore announced Tuesday that he will convene the Governor’s Redistricting Advisory Commission, an advisory body last used in 2011, to consider starting mid-cycle redistricting to boost Democrats in the state.

The move comes less than a week after Bill Ferguson, the Democratic state Senate president, announced his opposition to drawing new congressional maps. Moore’s move marks an escalation in the battle between Ferguson and the governor ahead of a possible special legislative session to forge ahead with new maps designed to break up Maryland’s single Republican-leaning congressional district.

According to a news release from Moore’s office, the commission will “organize public hearings, solicit public feedback and make recommendations to the governor and Maryland General Assembly to improve our current map and ensure Maryland has fair Congressional maps.”

The commission will be made up of five members, three of whom are appointed by Moore: Democratic Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, who will serve as chair, former Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh, another Democrat, and Cumberland Mayor Ray Morriss, who is listed as non-partisan. Ferguson and Democratic House Speaker Adrienne Jones or their designees will also serve on the panel. Jones announced Tuesday that she will appoint Del. C.T. Wilson, a Charles County Democrat, as her designee to the commission.

“My commitment has been clear from day one — we will explore every avenue possible to make sure Maryland has fair and representative maps,” Moore said in the news release. “This commission will ensure the people are heard. I thank those who have raised their hands to lead this process, and I am confident in their ability to gather the views and perspectives of a broad range of voices throughout the state.”

Moore, Alsobrooks and other Maryland Democrats — especially in the state House — have considered mid-cycle redistricting as a response to GOP efforts in Texas, Indiana and other states to redraw congressional maps in their favor. Alsobrooks said in the release that she was “proud to chair the commission” because of threats to democracy posed by President Donald Trump’s push for aggressive mid-cycle redistricting in red states.

“We have a President that treats our democracy with utter contempt. We have a Republican Party that is trying to rig the rules in response to their terrible polling,” Alsobrooks said. “Let me be clear: Maryland deserves a fair map that represents the will of the people.”

But Ferguson and his Democratic allies in the state Senate worry that drawing new maps could lead to court challenges in Maryland, which Independent Voter News has already ranked as the country’s second-most gerrymandered state, behind only North Carolina.

In a statement Tuesday, Ferguson said the Senate would engage with the commission if its goal “is to hear directly from Marylanders.” He described the effort to eliminate GOP representation as an “unbalanced risk-reward calculation.”

“Marylanders’ voices remain central to this process, and these public meetings will provide an opportunity for voters to hear about the unique legal barriers in Maryland — barriers that could unintentionally give Donald Trump another one or two of Maryland’s congressional seats should this effort backfire in our courts,” the Senate president wrote.

Republicans oppose commission

Republicans in both houses of the General Assembly oppose any proposal that could cost Rep. Andy Harris, the only GOP member of Maryland’s congressional delegation, his seat.

In a phone interview with The Baltimore Sun, Harris slammed Moore’s use of the phrase “fair maps,” arguing that truly fair representation in Maryland would include more Republican representation. He described Ferguson as the “one voice of reason” and said the Senate president understands the legal risks posed by overt partisan gerrymandering.

“This is not a bipartisan commission. It’s a completely partisan commission … that will attempt to draw an 8-0 congressional map and risk ending up in court,” Harris told The Sun. “It will end up in court, with a judge drawing two or maybe even three Republican (districts).”

Maryland House Minority Leader Jason Buckel and House Minority Whip Jesse Pippy described the commission as “a bogus and rigged effort to keep pushing to gerrymander Maryland — already one of the most gerrymandered states in America — to eliminate all Republican voices from representing our citizens, even from regions where they are the clear majority.

State Senate Minority Leader Steve Hershey and Minority Whip Justin Ready struck a similar tone in a joint statement, saying that Alsobrooks should be “ashamed” to be serving on the commission instead of focusing on more traditional U.S. Senate duties.

“As Maryland’s junior U.S. Senator, she should be in Washington doing her job — working to reopen the federal government and serve the people she was elected to represent — instead of spending her time leading a political commission to cement Democratic dominance,” Hershey and Ready said. “Her priorities could not be clearer, nor more misplaced.”

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