Maryland lawmakers kicked off a special session Monday to consider a first step in a partisan redistricting initiative that could help Democrats pick up an additional U.S. House seat by 2028.
The General Assembly was set to begin debate on a proposed constitutional amendment intended to give Democrats greater latitude to draw congressional maps favoring their party, which currently represents seven of the state’s eight House districts. The proposal would have to be approved by voters before lawmakers could begin considering new district lines.
Deep blue Maryland鈥檚 move, which the state’s minority Republicans have called a blatant power grab, is the latest turn in the national battle over redistricting, which kicked off a year ago and has ahead of this year鈥檚 midterms.
Democratic state Senate President Bill Ferguson blocked earlier this year that could have put new maps in place before the fall elections, worried the move could backfire upon judicial review. But he has said his views shifted after the U.S. Supreme Court in late April. That decision offered new grounds for Republicans to swiftly reconfigure districts with large minority populations that have elected Democrats, moves that Ferguson called 鈥減ainful鈥� to watch.
鈥淚t felt like the unwinding of any type of democratic norms in the blink of an eye,鈥� Ferguson said in an interview.
Deep blue Maryland could gain one seat
Maryland’s lone Republican representative in Congress is Rep. Andy Harris, chairperson of the House Freedom Caucus. Harris’ 1st District is centered on the mostly rural Eastern Shore, part of a scenic peninsula separated from the rest of the state by the Chesapeake Bay.
In 2021, lawmakers tried to remake the maps in a way that made Harris’ district more competitive for a Democrat to win, drawing in communities across the bay. But those districts in 2022, calling them a 鈥減roduct of extreme partisan gerrymandering.鈥�
In light of that decision and in hopes of avoiding future adverse legal rulings, lawmakers will consider legislation to amend the state constitution to make clear that the parameters the judge cited 鈥� including that districts be compact in form and have regard given to 鈥渘atural boundaries鈥� 鈥� apply only to General Assembly districts, not congressional ones.
If approved by a three-fifths vote of both chambers, the amendment would go before voters in the Nov. 3 general election. If approved there, lawmakers could revisit the congressional maps for the 2028 election cycle under the constitution鈥檚 new guidance.
Ferguson told reporters Monday that future changes to the maps could depend on the outcome of the November midterms.
Republicans say the move sets up a gerrymander
In advance of the special session, Republicans criticized the move by Democrats and raised concerns about limits set on testimony for the special session.
鈥淲e are very concerned with the significant limitations on witnesses, and the reality that any bill hearing is obviously intended to be a brief and meaningless formality,鈥� House Minority Leader Jason Buckel said in a statement.
Harris, in an interview, said the 鈥済errymandering that this constitutional amendment sets up鈥� would break up areas of common interest into districts predominated by urban and suburban areas, disenfranchising rural voters. Such a move would 鈥渙f course鈥� face a court challenge, he said.
Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat who has expressed frustration over lawmakers’ refusal to redistrict earlier this year, cast the move as an urgent necessity in light of Republican moves elsewhere. The proposal currently before lawmakers will ultimately give voters, not 鈥減arty bosses,鈥� the final say, he said.
鈥淎nd if the people determine that there鈥檚 nothing to do, then there鈥檚 nothing to do. But if the people determine that we move, we move,鈥� he said in an interview as he became chair of the National Governors Association.
Redistricting reverberates around the country
Maryland鈥檚 special session is part of a new phase in a that began a year ago, when President Donald to redraw congressional districts to help the party hold on to its slim House majority in the midterm elections. Republicans think they could win as many as 16 additional seats from new House maps enacted in eight states 鈥� Texas, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Florida, Tennessee, Louisiana and Alabama. Democrats, whose counterattack , think they could win up to six additional seats from new districts in California and Utah.
Now some states, such as Maryland and New York, are taking steps to redraw congressional districts . New York鈥檚 Democratic-led Legislature has approved to authorize mid-decade redistricting, repeal prohibitions on partisan gerrymandering and make it easier for lawmakers to bypass an independent redistricting commission in the future. The measure needs another round of legislative approval next year before it can appear on a statewide ballot.
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Associated Press reporters David A. Lieb in Jefferson City, Missouri, and Steven Sloan in Oklahoma City contributed to this report.
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