Amid 2028 speculation, Wes Moore urges Marylanders to back him on redistricting

BALTIMORE — Maryland Gov.Wes Moore is expected to cruise to re-election on Nov.

3.But he’s sweating the campaign nonetheless.Moore’s political prowess is being tested at home beyond his own race for a second term, as Maryland voters prepare to take sides on a ballot question that would allow state Democratic leaders to redraw congressional district lines in a way that favors the party even more than the current 7-1 map.Moore and his allies — including former President Barack Obama — are framing a vote for the ballot question as a vote to fight back against President Donald Trump and Republicans, an argument that might usually be expected to find purchase in a deep-blue state.But it has become apparent in recent weeks that support for the ballot measure may not be as strong as Moore and other Maryland Democrats had hoped, and a major late effort has ramped up to promote passage of the measure.

If it doesn’t pass, it would be a major political setback for Moore amid wide speculation that he’s gearing up for a potential 2028 presidential campaign.Moore and his allies in Annapolis sought to redraw congressional districts this year, arguing that the Legislature could draw a map with all eight districts favoring Democrats to replace the current map in the wake of GOP redistricting efforts elsewhere.But the effort was halted by state Senate President Bill Ferguson, a fellow Democrat who claimed that the push didn’t have the support of a majority of lawmakers in his chamber.Ferguson noted that Maryland Democrats tried to draw a more favorable congressional district map in 2021, only for a state judge to toss it out in 2022.The ballot measure stemmed from that, seeking to address the state constitutional issue that sank the 2021 map first.

In August, Ferguson and other Democrats in the Legislature overwhelmingly moved to put a measure before voters to eliminate the requirement that Maryland’s congressional districts obey natural boundaries, like the Ches...