House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries made a surprise visit to Annapolis and met with Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson Wednesday as part of an escalating pressure campaign for a vote on new congressional districts.

Jeffries had friendly meetings with Maryland House Democrats and Gov. Wes Moore, whose push to join other states in mid-cycle redistricting has become a test of his influence in deep-blue Maryland and a potential resume-booster for higher political ambitions.

Jeffries spent 45 minutes meeting privately with Ferguson, who has parked the new map in a Senate committee because he’s worried about the legal risks of redistricting.

The two met in Ferguson’s State House office with their chiefs of staff and posed for a picture together.

They shared broad agreement about the need to respond to the harms of the Trump administration and spoke mostly about the legal merits of redistricting, a source with knowledge of the conversation who was not authorized to discuss it said, but the meeting did not appear to have changed either man’s mind.

Jeffries characterized the discussion as “candid.” He told reporters Ferguson heard him out and the two had a “productive exchange of ideas and perspectives.”

Both men left the meeting open to the possibility of speaking again.

“Bill Ferguson authentically believes that the votes don’t exist in the state Senate to move forward,” Jeffries said in a later statement. “The only way to find out is to allow an immediate up-or-down vote on the senate floor with respect to the new congressional map.”

Jeffries also had a cheerful reception from Maryland House Democrats, many of whom posed for selfies with him after a caucus meeting that included Moore.

Moore said he did not request the meeting with Jeffries, but was happy to discuss their shared belief in the importance of fighting for democracy.

“Their job is to actually debate and discuss and to take votes,” Moore said of the Senate.

“I just hope that the Senate President, Bill Ferguson, would allow for his chamber to be able to exercise their democratic rights.”

Jeffries thanked House Democrats during their caucus meeting for having the “courage, conviction and compassion to meet the moment,” according statement from House Speaker Joseline Peña-Melnyk.

She said Maryland’s House of Delegates has “stepped up to cause some good trouble.”

“If Congress were doing its job as a coequal branch of government, it would be checking the actions of our out–of–control executive and there would not be talk of mid-cycle redistricting," she said in a statement.

At Moore’s request, the House of Delegates approved a new map of congressional districts earlier this month that gives Democrats a chance at ousting Maryland’s sole Republican congressman, U.S. Rep. Andy Harris, by redrawing his Eastern Shore district to include Democratic-leaning portions of Anne Arundel and Howard counties.

Supporters of the plan say a partisan map is an unpleasant but necessary step to counteract Republican gerrymandering efforts in other states, such as Texas and Missouri, and preserve Democrats’ chances at winning a majority in the House of Representatives this fall.

Moore has been leading the redistricting charge since the fall, when he appointed a commission full of allies to study the issue. The group recommended redrawing political lines to improve Democrats’ chances of winning all eight of Maryland’s House seats.

Ferguson cast one of two dissenting committee votes on the plan and has bottled up the redistricting bill in a Senate committee, where it is expected to sit until it is declared dead because of forthcoming election deadlines.

Ferguson has said the new map does not have the support to pass in the Senate. He has also argued that mid-cycle redistricting is a form of “mutually assured destruction,” and says that a new Maryland map would result in a legal challenge that could end with an even less favorable map for Democrats, if redrawn by the courts.

There have been some signs of unrest in the Senate Democratic Caucus, but not enough to force a vote on the redistricting legislation. State Sen. Arthur Ellis, a Charles County Democrat, launched a one-man protest but has not inspired a broader movement.

Jeffries indicated he had spoken with some members of the Maryland Senate, but did not provide an exact count as he walked into the State House Wednesday.

U.S. Rep Jamie Raskin has also made an appeal, arguing in a late-night letter last week that the state Senate should vote on the new maps.

Maryland Republicans oppose redistricting, which could strip them of their only seat in the House of Representatives. Del. Jesse Pippy, the second-ranking Republican in the House of Delegates, said Wednesday morning that the push from Jeffries for “partisan gerrymandering” is “completely inappropriate, completely unnecessary.”

Del. Jason Buckel, the House minority leader, said he expected Jeffries would “harangue” Ferguson to redistrict, which he said is not a good idea — just as he believes it wasn’t appropriate for Trump and his allies to put pressure on Indiana Republicans.

Buckel noted next week’s deadlines for candidates to file for office, saying that’s likely the end of the road for redistricting in Maryland.

“It is past the time to consider these things. We need to accept it. I hope that Hakeem Jeffries and Wes Moore can accept it,” Buckel said.

Banner reporter Pamela Wood contributed to this report.