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Gov. Wes Moore (D) said he will not relent on his push to redraw Maryland鈥檚 congressional districts this year 鈥� but he will set it aside, briefly, to deliver his State of the State address Wednesday.
鈥淢y speech is going to be focused on the issues that this administration has been focused on鈥� including economic growth and affordability, Moore said Tuesday.
鈥淚 think people are going to see and know that this issue is a very real priority to me,鈥� he said of redistricting. 鈥淏ut I think we will also see that my priorities are 鈥� making sure that we can make this state more affordable, that we can make this state more economically competitive and that we can protect the people of this state.鈥�
Moore said he also wants the state to continue to push back on 鈥渢he additional assaults that we are seeing from Washington, D.C.鈥�
鈥淲e know that we have a lot of work to do. We鈥檙e thankful for the momentum that we鈥檙e seeing in those areas,鈥� he told reporters Tuesday. 鈥淲e know we鈥檙e looking forward to working with the General Assembly to ensure all the goals and aspirations of the people of the state of Maryland have, we can continue to meet.鈥�
For Moore, it is his fourth State of the State speech since his historic inauguration in 2023 as the state鈥檚 first Black governor. But Moore, who entered office on a wave of optimism, has seen his relationship with the legislature fray.
Two months ago, the General Assembly overrode more than a dozen of his vetoes, including his veto of a bill creating a task force to study reparations. Those votes followed a bruising 2025 session where Moore raised $1.6 billion in taxes and saw many of his legislative priorities stumble.
Legislators from Moore鈥檚 own party are angry over his creation of a slate committee that could be weaponized to support challengers in the primary who are more supportive of the governor鈥檚 agenda.
Since peaking in 2024, Moore鈥檚 job approval numbers have trended downward. In one recent survey, the number of people who strongly disapproved of his job performance outnumbered those who strongly approved, the first time that has happened since Moore was sworn in.
Moore鈥檚 speech comes at a time when he portrays the state and the country at an existential political crossroads.
The governor wants Maryland to redraw its eight congressional districts ahead of the 2026 midterm elections to counter partisan redistricting in Republican states. The House last week approved a redistricting plan that would likely flip the state鈥檚 only Republican-held district to Democratic.
But that bill has stalled in the Senate, where it remains consigned to the Rules Committee.
At almost every turn, Moore has used traditional and new media appearances to pressure the Senate and its leader, Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) to vote on the bill. In a meeting with reporters Tuesday, he again demanded that the Senate, led by Ferguson, bring redistricting legislation to the full Senate for a vote.
鈥淢y position hasn鈥檛 moved,鈥� Moore said. 鈥淚 think that we have to fight for democracy and that means we have to have a vote.鈥�
Moore vowed he was 鈥渘ot going to move on. I鈥檓 not going to stop.鈥�
But he also insisted that it would not be the focus of his address Wednesday.
Republicans and other critics say Moore is too focused on national politics, perhaps in service of higher aspirations. Moore is routinely mentioned as a potential candidate for president in 2028.
Ferguson, in a separate meeting with reporters Tuesday, said there are a host of issues on which legislators will work with Moore. But he said he is hoping the governor will touch on concerns about government operations.
鈥淚鈥檓 hopeful that the governor will talk about some of the performance management actions that his administration will move forward to make sure that we are delivering on behalf of all Marylanders every single day regardless of what who鈥檚 in the White House,鈥� Ferguson said
In recent months, department after department have received deficient, sometimes scathing, audits from legislative auditors. Many have been repeat audit findings.
鈥淛ust today we saw the story of MHEC [the Maryland Higher Education Commission] yet again has another program that has failed to deliver,鈥� Ferguson said. 鈥淭his is for a program that鈥檚 supposed to be having teachers receive scholarships so that we can have the highest quality individuals who are in our classrooms every day. And of course, now we find out that MHEC has failed to operate the program effectively, and people are getting stuck with bills.鈥�
Maryland Matters reporter Christine Condon contributed to this report.
