A Maryland commission tasked with considering whether to redraw the state’s congressional lines voted Tuesday to recommend a new map that would favor Democrats in all eight of the state’s House districts.
The proposal, which now heads to the Democrat-controlled General Assembly, is the latest in redistricting moves nationwide that have reshaped this year’s fight for control of the House, where Republicans are defending a slim majority heading into the midterm elections.
“At a moment when other states are moving aggressively to redraw maps, and when fundamental voting rights protections face renewed threats, Maryland has a responsibility to lead with urgency,” Democratic Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, the chair of the redistricting commission, said in a statement.
Democrats currently hold seven of Maryland’s eight House seats, with Rep. Andy Harris the delegation’s sole Republican.
His 1st District on the state’s Eastern Shore has previously been a Democratic redistricting target. Following the 2020 census, state Democrats attempted to turn the 1st District into a swing seat during the decennial redistricting process. But a state judge blocked that map, calling it an “extreme partisan gerrymander” that violated the state constitution’s protections for fair elections.
The latest attempt to redraw Maryland’s congressional map faces uncertain prospects in the legislature. While the new state House speaker, Joseline Peña-Melnyk, has indicated support for redrawing the map, state Senate leader Bill Ferguson, a member of the redistricting commission, remains opposed.
“It is hard for me to understand how moving forward a map in this context could ever withstand constitutional scrutiny,” Ferguson, who reportedly voted against the proposed map, told Fox 45 in Baltimore.
The Maryland vote comes days after state lawmakers in Democrat-led Virginia approved a constitutional amendment, clearing the way for a special election to let commonwealth voters weigh in on adopting a new House map this year. Democrats in both states say they want to counter Republican-driven efforts to enact new maps in Texas, Missouri and North Carolina, as well as potentially in Florida, where lawmakers are poised to consider a redraw in April.
On the Democratic side, California voters approved a more favorable new map via a ballot measure last fall. Other states getting new maps ahead of the midterms include Utah and Ohio.
Andrew Menezes contributed to this report.
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