Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson. Karl Merton Ferron / Baltimore Sun via Getty Images file
Maryland state Senate President Bill Ferguson, who is running for re-election, said he feels “great” about where things stand today.
“These are really frustrating and hard times for all Americans, but especially for Baltimoreans, because we know our city has been under attack by the Trump administration,” Ferguson said outside a polling place for today’s primary. “And I’ve been able to talk about the things that we’ve done to protect Marylanders from the chaos.”
NBC News asked Ferguson about how his views on redistricting may have changed since the Supreme Court ruling on the Voting Rights Act in April. Ferguson said Marylanders can’t sit out of the redistricting conversation, but that right now his focus is on working to put a constitutional amendment related to redistricting on Maryland’s ballot in November.
“It’s just about the constitutional amendment; it is not a map itself,” Ferguson said. “We want to see how things play out, give Marylanders a say, and then we’ll reapproach it next session to see what is the best place for Maryland to do to respond to the chaos that’s been unleashed by the Trump administration and by the Supreme Court.”
Ferguson said Democrats have to make thoughtful and purposeful political decisions.
“Firefighters don’t fight fire with fire,” Ferguson said. “In fact, they fight it with water, and they put the fire out, and I think that’s because you have to be strategic and thoughtful. You don’t want to burn the house down.”
On today’s rainy weather, Ferguson said he hopes it doesn’t diminish turnout.
“This is democracy at its fullest,” Ferguson said. “People have fought and died for the right to vote. Today is the day to exercise that voice for democracy, and so I hope to see you out here.”