House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., has reportedly been engaged in conversations with Democratic lawmakers in states under Democratic control to weigh the party’s options as the Republican Party launches its Jim Crow-style gerrymandering push to eliminate majority-Black districts.
And in the eye of the storm is Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson, whose opposition to a redistricting efforts in his state has turned him into something of a pariah within his own party. A prime example of that is this post from Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., that called Ferguson a “turncoat,” a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” and an ally to Republicans.
Maryland Democratic Gov. Wes Moore has opted not to endorse Ferguson, who’s currently embroiled in a primary race for re-election. Moore told Politico in an interview published Thursday that he and Ferguson remain at odds on redistricting.
Maryland’s Democratic senators, Angela Alsobrooks and Chris Van Hollen, both sided with Moore against Ferguson last year.
Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., rebuked Ferguson’s redistricting delay in recent comments to Politico, as well:
“At this point, the Republicans are literally doing everything in their power to create all Republican congressional delegations in the South and to squeeze out every possible seat,” Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) said in an interview. “So if his initial position was that he didn’t want to be part of continuing a downward spiral, that consideration should be gone. At this point, it’s just a question of whether we are going to fight back as best as we can.”
Ferguson’s office told NOTUS this week that the Senate president is “open to a conversation about next steps but needed to discuss them with Senate leadership, as well as rank and file members of the Senate Democratic Caucus.”
In the meantime, as Ferguson appears to drag his feet, Republican-led states, particularly in the South, are quickly moving ahead with the most flagrant assault on Black political representation and Black voter power in over a century. This inconvenient political reality makes Ferguson’s willingness to use Black voters in his campaign advertising more than a little awkward.
The situation brings to mind Martin Luther King Jr.’s prescient warning in 1963 about “white moderates,” whom he decried as being “more devoted to order than justice” as they stand in the way of civil rights.
Ja’han Jones is an MS NOW opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog.