BALTIMORE — Pressure is mounting on Maryland Senate leaders to take up a House-passed midcycle redistricting bill, as advocacy groups and lawmakers escalate a coordinated push for a Senate floor vote. The efforts come as Senate President Bill Ferguson insists the chamber is unified against the measure.

Black Voters Matter, a national voting rights organization, is urging the Senate to act on House Bill 488 after it cleared the House last week and was sent to the Senate Rules Committee. The group has committed to a five-figure advertising campaign in Maryland and is hosting a rally Monday evening at the Miller Senate Office Building in Annapolis.

“People have a right to know how their senators stand on this,” Black Voters Matter co-founder and co-executive director Cliff Albright told The Baltimore Sun. “The people send their senators [to the state house] to cast these votes … Are they going to represent their constituents or are they going to represent Senator Ferguson? That’s the fundamental question.”

Earlier Monday, another group of organizers and lawmakers made a similar case during a virtual redistricting panel hosted by the Transformative Justice Coalition and Progressive Maryland. Speakers framed Maryland’s proposal as a response to midcycle redistricting efforts in Republican-led states, particularly Texas, and warned that inaction in Maryland could weaken minority voting power nationwide.

“This is not a political stunt,” said Del. C.T. Wilson of Charles County, the House bill’s sponsor. Wilson said the proposed map followed months of legal research aimed at avoiding the court challenges that invalidated Maryland’s last redistricting plan. “This is months and months of research and hard work to make sure that we can do this, and that we do it the right way. … I’m extraordinarily confident that this bill — this map — will pass constitutional muster.”

Wilson, House Majority Leader Del. David Moon and other panelists rejected arguments that Maryland should avoid action to prevent escalating partisan redistricting elsewhere. “We’re already behind the power curve,” Wilson said. “There’s no way I’m going to sit back on a promise that if we stand down, the other states are going to stand down. They started the fight.”

Albright said the panel, rally and advertising campaign are part of a coordinated effort among local and national groups to pressure Senate leaders to allow a floor vote.

“We’re part of the same coalition, Meet the Moment Maryland,” Albright said in a Monday phone call ahead of the rally, citing Progressive Maryland and the Transformative Justice Coalition among the groups involved. Meet the Moment is a coalition of labor and community organizations calling on state leaders to move forward with redistricting.

Albright said organizers plan to submit a petition with roughly 10,000 signatures calling for a Senate floor vote. He said rally attendance is less important than what he described as “broad public support,” pointing to testimony before Gov. Wes Moore’s Redistricting Advisory Commission that he said leaned in favor of redrawing the congressional map.

“The point that we’re trying to emphasize with these conversations is it’s not just one person or two people,” Albright said. “It’s really about the dozens of thousands of Maryland residents who believe that this is the right course of action.”

Public testimony on redistricting has been mixed, however. While speakers at the state’s final redistricting hearing in December overwhelmingly supported Democratic efforts to redraw Maryland’s congressional map, written testimony submitted to the state told a sharply different story. Records obtained by The Sun showed written testimony opposing redistricting far outnumbered submissions in support. A senior Senate staffer said a tally of written testimony collected by the Maryland Department of Planning across four public sessions showed 124 people opposed redistricting, compared with 31 in favor.

Ferguson has repeatedly said the Senate remains unified against the bill, citing legal and political risks, including the possibility courts could strike down a new map, putting the state at risk of losing a Democratic seat in Congress. Albright disputed that assessment, saying those concerns should be addressed through debate rather than procedural delay.

“If that’s your position, if that’s your concern, guess what? Debate it on the floor,” Albright said. “Let your own caucus have a debate around it, and then let there be a vote. … I disagree with his analysis, but that’s what debate is for.”

He added that a public vote is critical for accountability, regardless of the outcome.

Gov. Moore and House Democratic leaders have urged the Senate to take up the bill, while Republican leaders argue the proposed map would face legal challenges and could put Maryland’s congressional delegation at risk. The new map would significantly reshape the 1st and 3rd congressional districts and could put Rep. Andy Harris, the state’s lone Republican member of Congress, at a substantial electoral disadvantage. Democratic Rep. Sarah Elfreth, who represents the 3rd district, could potentially face off with Harris if the new map is enacted.

The renewed push comes days after Sen. Arthur Ellis of Charles County began a protest on the Senate floor, becoming the sole Maryland senator to publicly press leadership to bring the bill to a vote. Ellis said his action was prompted by growing threats to voting rights and political representation.

Ferguson’s office declined to comment Monday on the escalating pressure.

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