Maryland House greenlights new congressional map to counter GOP gerrymanders

The Maryland House of Delegates passed a new congressional map Monday that would eliminate the state’s last Republican-held U.S. House seat, escalating a Democratic effort to counter GOP gerrymanders reshaping the national political landscape ahead of the 2026 midterms.

Lawmakers approved House Bill 488 by a 99–37 vote, largely along party lines, formally endorsing a map drawn by the governor’s redistricting advisory commission. If enacted, the plan would redraw all eight of Maryland’s congressional districts in ways that favor Democratic candidates, transforming the state’s current 7–1 delegation into an all-Democratic slate.

Democrats framed the vote as a response to an extraordinary national moment, pointing to President Donald Trump’s push for mid-decade redistricting in Republican-controlled states to lock in a GOP House majority before voters head to the polls. 

With control of Congress often decided by a handful of seats, supporters argued that inaction would amount to unilateral disarmament.

“At the end of the day, we have to protect Maryland’s interest,” bill sponsor Del. C.T. Wilson (D) said during floor debate. “We can’t have people up there scared of this administration — fearful that they’ve got to do the right thing to stay in this man’s favor.”

House Majority Leader Del. David Moon (D) echoed that sentiment, criticizing the idea that Maryland should refrain from acting while other states redraw their maps at Trump’s urging.

“To ask Maryland and Maryland alone to stand down while the president is running around to every other state, asking state leaders to find him votes in the U.S. House of Representatives, that’s preposterous,” Moon said.

Republicans offered a series of amendments aimed at restoring earlier maps, imposing new mapping standards or banning mid-decade redistricting altogether, but each was rejected. Democrats argued those proposals would leave Maryland absorbing the consequences of aggressive gerrymanders elsewhere while surrendering leverage in a national fight already underway.

Supporters also emphasized that the map approved by the House was developed through a public process, citing public hearings, map submissions and community feedback reviewed by the commission before lawmakers acted.

The bill now heads to the Maryland Senate, where its future is less certain.

Senate President Bill Ferguson, a Democrat, has raised concerns about potential legal risks and has suggested the measure could stall without a vote. If the Senate does not act, Maryland’s current congressional map would remain in place.

If the legislation ultimately becomes law, the new map would take effect for the 2026 elections, potentially giving Democrats an additional U.S. House seat even as GOP redistricting efforts in other states threaten Democratic incumbents nationwide.