Maryland Sen. Arthur Ellis (D-Charles County) defected from his caucus Thursday and left the Senate floor in protest over the refusal to bring up early redistricting for a vote.

The House of Delegates approved a new Congressional map Monday that could oust the state’s sole Republican seat following the 2026 election.

The map passed with only Democratic support, with proponents citing the need to fight back against Trump administration policies, like federal layoffs, healthcare and energy funding cuts and ramped-up immigration enforcement efforts.

House Republicans argued the map was a clear attempt at political gerrymandering in Democrats favor, raising concerns over the new district lines dividing communities.

Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) agrees with several of these arguments, believing the proposed map “breaks apart more neighborhoods and communities than [Maryland’s] existing map.”

Ferguson has also contested that litigation over the new map could not be finalized in time prior to the November General Election and worries that legal challenge could even result in Democrats ultimately losing ground.

Ferguson has been clear on his position for months and has repeatedly signaled that the new map will not be brought forward for a vote in the Senate.

“I think it'll sit in the [Senate] Rules Committee, and we'll have to see where it is from there. I am very confident with where the Senate Democratic Caucus stands on this and where I think the chamber is overall, and so I don't foresee anything shifting there,” Ferguson told members of the press on Tuesday.

But a speech on Black History Month from Ellis on the Senate floor Thursday slowly evolved into a speech of protest over the Trump administration’s impact on Black and Brown communities.

“I will try my best to get some people angry today by saying that I will not come back to this podium. I will not come back to this podium and to give quorum to this body until we bring the mid-cycle redistricting bill to this floor, and we be part of the revolution to send Washington a message that what they're doing to our citizens is unacceptable, especially the Blacks and the Browns,” Ellis said.

Ellis said several Black women in Maryland and his district have been fired “because of their race by [the Trump] administration.”

“It is unacceptable to sit back and act like we cannot do anything about it, and therefore, Mr. President, colleagues, I respectfully take my leave to make my protest moment possible,” Ellis said before leaving the floor prior to a quorum vote.

Gov. Wes Moore, who is in strong support of early redistricting, is putting pressure on the Senate to bring the new map forward for a vote.

When the governor testified in favor of the bill during its hearing in the House Rules Committee last week, he also referenced the Trump administration imposing disproportionate harm on racial minorities.

“Make no mistake, what the president of the United States is doing right now is political redlining, and it's not lost to me that I'm the only Black governor in this country and only the third elected Black governor in the history of this nation,” Moore said. “Donald Trump and JD Vance and their allies in the states that [Del. C.T. Wilson] suggested, are doing everything in their power to silence the voices and trying to eliminate Black leadership, elected leadership all over this country. So no, I will not sit quiet, and the audacity of those who are telling me to do so shows that they have no understanding of the journey of so many who came before us.”

While Ferguson condemns the Trump administration and Republican states for pushing to eliminate minority voting districts, he refutes the argument that by not redistricting, Maryland would be diluting the power of Black leadership.

“We are going to double-down on voting rights protections here in the state of Maryland, and so we will continue to exercise the authority that we have in the places where we know that we can have a genuine impact to protect Marylanders against this lawless administration,” Ferguson said during a press conference last week.

Ellis’s decision to not vote in the Senate under protest will not affect the regular business of the chamber — none of his Democratic colleagues joined him in leaving the floor.

A spokesperson for Ferguson, David Schuhlein, said the president and the Senate Democratic Caucus's stance has not changed following Ellis’s remarks.