Maryland Senate president faces primary after snubbing Democratic redistricting effort

BALTIMORE — Front stoops in Baltimore’s historic south and southeast neighborhoods are usually decorated for spring with seasonal flowers, string lights and banners supporting the Baltimore Orioles.

But in the last few months, residents have added new accessories to their front porches: lawn signs supporting the state Senate campaigns of Bill Ferguson, Maryland’s current Senate president, or opponent Bobby LaPin, the first Democratic primary challenger Ferguson has faced in 12 years.

“For prior elections I never even had my own campaign signs, I never had just ‘Ferguson’ campaign signs,” Ferguson told NBC News in an interview at his campaign headquarters in Locust Point, adding that he normally makes and distributes signs that don his name alongside those of the state delegates representing his district.

But this year, Ferguson faces a primary challenge from LaPin, a community activist, small business owner and Army veteran who amassed a following on Instagram promoting his sailing business and his activism well before he launched his bid for the seat last year. Now, LaPin is mounting an insurgent campaign in the wake of Ferguson’s decision last year not to pursue partisan redistricting in Maryland, in a rebuke to national Democratic leaders and Gov. Wes Moore.

Bobby LaPin delivering remarks in Baltimore in 2025. Surya Vaidy / Baltimore Sun via Getty Images file The race, which will be decided in a June 23 primary, could be reflective of the anti-establishment sentiment sweeping through Republican and Democratic primaries across the country — this time materializing in Charm City.

Anti-establishment angst

LaPin, who has been knocking on doors in his army green Baltimore Orioles baseball cap, believes voters in the area are fed up with “the establishment” and are seeking a fighter who will stand up for progressive values and lead Maryland’s opposition to President Donald Trump.

“The country is on fire. It is absolutely on fire. It is not okay what’s happening outside, and to have politicians that aren’t fighting tooth and nail, ten toes dug into the ground, face to face, and pushing back, that’s a betrayal to people,” he told NBC News in an interview at a coffee shop in the district’s Federal Hill neighborhood.

One of LaPin’s campaign volunteers, Hadley Anthony, 35, said his candidate’s constant presence at community events, like anti-war protests and vigils for those killed by federal agents earlier this year in Minnesota, is what drew her to the campaign.

“Bobby’s at all these things. Bobby is always there, even at the small protests,” she told NBC News at LaPin’s “Lemonade for Good Change” event in Patterson Park last week. “That’s why I’m out here, in like 95-degree weather, squeezing lemons.”

Bobby LaPin, right, puts together campaign signs and chats with voters at his campaign's "Lemonade for Good Change" event in Patterson Park, Baltimore. Alexandra Marquez / NBC News Ferguson, meanwhile, is also framing the race as one between a member of the establishment and an ambitious upstart, but the 15-year state senator believes that voters will choose him after they hear about his role in delivering policy results from Annapolis that have improved Baltimore schools and driven down local crime rates.

The incumbent called LaPin’s primary challenge a “blessing in disguise” that has given him an opportunity “to think through about how best to communicate with voters about the things that I’ve been able to deliver over the years.”

Ferguson specifically pointed to education and healthcare reforms and a 2021 law he sponsored that put in place Maryland’s first-in-the-nation digital advertising tax, which allows the state to collect hundreds of millions of dollars that are earmarked for an education reform program.

Ferguson also addressed the backlash LaPin has capitalized on against his approach to legislating.

“I understand how angry people are, and I understand why, you know, this idea of fighting fire with fire is so resonant with people,” he said. “The reality is, you don’t fight fire with fire, you fight fire with water. You have to be smart, and you have to be tactical.”

One of Ferguson’s supporters, Rep. Sarah Elfreth, D-Md., also didn’t dispute LaPin’s characterization of Ferguson as an established, longtime politician, touting that fact as a strength for the incumbent.

Maryland state Senate President Bill Ferguson speaks to campaign volunteers before an afternoon of canvassing in Baltimore's Highlandtown neighborhood. Alexandra Marquez / NBC News “I understand people’s frustration with what they may see as a status quo,” Elfreth told NBC News in an interview. “At the same time, I don’t know why experience is discounted in this particular — I hate to call it profession — but experience is really important.”

She added, “You shouldn’t have to ask where the bathrooms are when you get to the statehouse, not understand how a bill becomes a law, or how to compromise and negotiate amongst your own constituents, let…