Maryland lawmaker storms off senate floor over redistricting vote

The debate over congressional redistricting heated up Thursday as one Democratic senator demanded the full Senate be allowed to vote on the proposal, before storming off the floor.

Sen. Arthur Ellis (D-Charles) said he would continue to protest, for the remaining two months of the legislative session if necessary, by boycotting floor activity until House Bill 488 comes out of the Senate Rules Committee, where it has been bottled up since it came over from the House Wednesday.

Ellis’ protest punctuated a speech that was part of the Senate’s monthlong observation of Black History Month. As he thought about the speech Wednesday night, he said, he was left with one question.

“What are you doing today when so many peoples’ rights are being trampled and we have modern protesters being murdered in the streets of America?” Ellis said, his voice rising briefly. “What are you doing? Who are you pissing off? And I must say that I will try my best to get some people angry today.”

Ellis, speaking from his seat, said he would “not come back to this podium and … give quorum to this body until we bring the midcycle redistricting bill to this floor and we be part of the revolution to send Washington a message that what they are doing to our citizens is unacceptable — especially the Blacks and the browns.”

He then told a silent chamber he would leave the floor “to make my protest moment possible.” None of the remaining 43 senators reacted. The only response came from Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) as Ellis left the chamber.

“Thank you, senator,” Ferguson said.

Ferguson, an opponent of midcycle redistricting, assigned the bill Wednesday to the Rules Committee, which has no staff and only meets infrequently, usually to discharge late-filed bills to other standing committees. Meeting with reporters Tuesday, he would not declare the bill dead on arrival, but said the chamber was “not prioritizing” the bill and strongly implied that Rules would be its final destination.

“We don’t have a habit in the Senate of moving forward things that don’t have an opportunity,” Ferguson said. “We’ve had additional conversations. I don’t think anything has moved amongst our caucus and membership.”

Ferguson was not immediately available for comment after Thursday’s floor session, but he is likely to address the issue Friday during a regularly scheduled meeting with reporters.

He has become the focus of a push to have a vote by the full Senate. In a televised interview Monday, moments after the House passed the bill, Gov. Wes Moore (D) called on Ferguson to bring the bill up for debate and a vote. Former Gov. Martin O’Malley, a Democrat, and advocacy groups have issued similar calls on Ferguson.

Moore spokesperson Ammar Moussa said Ellis “is underscoring what more and more Marylanders are feeling every day: This is an urgent moment, and we cannot afford to sit on the sidelines — especially as we see real consequences coming out of Washington that hit Maryland families and communities.”

“This is about protecting our democracy and ensuring there is a meaningful check on this administration,” Moussa said in a statement. “Standing with democracy means taking up this map, debating it, and taking a vote—and that is our ask of the Maryland Senate.”

Ellis’ comments came just hours after an annual breakfast between the governor and the Legislative Black Caucus. Ellis said he has been “swayed” by Democratic Party leaders in Maryland and nationally, including Moore, Maryland House Speaker Joseline Peña-Melnyk, U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Ellis, speaking to reporters outside the Senate chamber, called the Senate’s blocking of the bill “unacceptable.”

Redistricting bill sails through House, faces troubled waters in the Senate

“When the governor and the House passed a bill, for it to be locked up in Rules Committee in the Senate, it has to move and it has to be heard,” he said.

Ellis said he became angry about the issue during a Tuesday meeting of the Senate Democratic Caucus, when he asked for a straw vote on the issue and was told it was not allowed. He said he was later called to Ferguson’s office, and that other Ferguson “henchman” approached him.

“You never really know who will come at you to supposedly inflict a punishment, but let them know that Ellis cannot be punished. There is no punishment that can be inflicted on the people’s representatives from District 28 Charles County,” he told reporters.

Ellis said he believed others would join him but declined to name lawmakers he believes are sympathetic. He called his one-man protest Thursday “a personal decision.”

For now, he said, he “will not quorum in and I will not give him a quorum, and I will boycott the floor session until that bill moves out of committee and make it to the floor.” He dared Senate leaders to seek retribution.

“I dare anyone to try to punish me and kill those bills, bills that are great for women, for veterans, for children,” Ellis said. “I just want them to step forward and say, ‘Hey, you stepped up, you spoke up, and so we will punish you.’ I dare them to do it.”

In storming out, Ellis made it sound as if he would not participate in Senate floor sessions, which will see increasing amounts of debate and voting. But he said outside the chamber that he will attend floor sessions, which is his right as an elected member.

He said he has “other tools in my toolkit” that he will reveal later, but that for now he will not register his presence for purposes of establishing a quorum while on the floor. Senate rules require 24 of 47 members be present to conduct business in a regular session.

The protest may be little more than symbolic.

Ellis is one of 34 Democratic senators. Republicans hold 13 seats.

It is unclear how long Ellis could continue a protest where he refuses to participate. Senate Rules require members who are in their seats to perform certain duties, including voting. They also do not require a lawmaker to register a vote as part of a quorum call: The senator’s mere presence is enough to establish a quorum.

Ellis said he will also likely continue to speak about the stalled bill.

“Ellis never just sits there,” he told reporters.

Maryland Matters is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Maryland Matters maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Steve Crane for questions: editor@marylandmatters.org.