Maryland Democrats clear first hurdle on path to redistricting

The Democratic majority in the Maryland House passed a bill Tuesday to amend the state’s constitution to clarify the rules for drawing new congressional maps. 

If the bill passes the Senate — and is then approved by voters in November — it would allow lawmakers to draw a new map to dismantle Maryland’s lone GOP-majority district ahead of the 2028 presidential election.

The effort is aimed at countering the GOP gerrymanders in Texas, Florida, and others, driven by President Donald Trump.

“This legislation does not draw congressional districts,” House Speaker Joseline Peña-Melnyk (D) said in a statement. “It does not change a single line on a map. And it does not affect the upcoming 2026 election. It simply clarifies Maryland law and gives voters the opportunity to decide whether our constitution should provide the same legal framework available to other states as they confront the realities of congressional redistricting.”

Under Maryland law, maps must be drawn so that “each legislative district shall consist of adjoining territory, be compact in form, and of substantially equal population.” The state’s constitution also says that “due regard shall be given to natural boundaries and the boundaries of political subdivisions,” when lawmakers are drawing a new map.

But Democratic lawmakers have long argued that those conditions should only apply to redrawing the state’s legislative districts — not its congressional districts. Republicans have argued otherwise, and a 2022 state court ruling interpreted the Democratic-drawn congressional map as an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander.

The law change would make it clear the rules for redistricting don’t apply to congressional maps. 

Such a rule change would clear the way for the Democratic-controlled Assembly to draw a new map that breaks up the state’s GOP-held U.S. House seat.

Though Maryland is still a long way away from drawing a new map, state Democratic leaders said they’re starting the process now with this bill as a direct response to the redistricting wars started by Trump. 

“None of us want to be back here for a special session,” Gov. Wes Moore (D) said at a press conference Monday. “And I want to be clear that the reason we are here is because Donald Trump has forced us back.”

Prior to the House’s vote, lawmakers debated the bill and heard hours of public testimony Monday. Republican lawmakers said they opposed the bill because it creates an unfair partisan gerrymander at the behest of national Democratic leaders — not Maryland voters. More than 150 people signed up to speak Monday — a majority of them speaking in opposition to the proposed amendment.

But Democratic lawmakers said the bill is necessary to clarify a vague statute in the state’s constitution — and it’s ultimately up to voters to decide whether they want to alter the redistricting rules. 

“My need is that we clarify the law, because it’s mighty,” Peña-Melnyk said during a floor debate Monday.

In a 96-38 vote, lawmakers approved the change.

Democrats tried to pass a new congressional map earlier this year, but the effort died in the state Senate over concerns that it would be a partisan gerrymander in violation of the state’s constitution and be struck down by a court. 

House Majority Leader Del. David Moon (D) previously told Democracy Docket that his Democratic colleagues who were skeptical about redistricting quickly changed their minds after the Supreme Court’s ruling in Louisiana v. Callais, which gutted minority protections in the Voting Rights Act, and spurred a string of GOP gerrymanders in southern states.

“Not only did they gut the Voting Rights Act, but the glee and speed with which Southern Republican leaders undertook reopening mid-decade redistricting in their states, I think, made quite plain what was going on,” Moon said. “And the future of Black representation in the South is really called into question by a lot of the decisions that these leaders are making.”