Maryland Democrats settle for less after bitter redistricting fight

Gov. Wes Moore’s redistricting push was supposed to oust Maryland’s only Republican in Congress this November and boost House Democrats’ ability to check President Donald Trump’s agenda. Instead, the effort has been mired in months of debate, has deeply divided Democrats, and won’t affect congressional maps until 2028 — if ever.

State lawmakers are slated to return to Annapolis on Monday for a brief special session on a constitutional change that could help reshape Maryland’s congressional districts. The Democratic-led legislature is expected to approve the measure, which would appear on the November ballot.

But this week’s session won’t even look at new congressional maps, and the November ballot measure will come too late to affect midterm elections. Maryland’s yearlong redistricting fight has instead damaged relationships among Democratic leaders, cut short one lawmaker’s career and ended with no real winners.

“It’s been a saga,” said Del. David Moon, the House Democratic majority leader and a top proponent of redistricting. “And, unfortunately, hold onto your hats. We’re not done.”

Proponents of redistricting want a map that would end the eight-term tenure of U.S. Rep. Andy Harris, Maryland’s lone congressional Republican. If voters approve the legislature’s constitutional rewrite — and history indicates that’s likely — new district lines could be drawn during the next regular assembly session, beginning in January.

But by then the moment will have passed.

History suggests that Democrats have a strong chance of regaining control of the U.S. House of Representatives in the November midterms. That would provide a check on Trump and obviate the need for Maryland to redraw its districts to help Democrats win more seats.

“It’s like we’re a day late and a dollar short,” said Del. C.T. Wilson, a Charles County Democrat and proponent of redistricting. “It won’t matter by 2028.”

The push to redistrict Maryland isn’t likely to relent, though, as Republican- and Democratic-led states jockey for control of the U.S. House of Representatives.

“This is not going away,” said state Sen. Clarence Lam, a pro-redistricting Democrat from Howard County, noting that Republicans in other states have moved to eliminate districts represented by Black Democrats following a June Supreme Court ruling. “There will continue to be pressure for Maryland to help rebalance Congress.”

What’s happening in the special session?

First, though, is the matter of the special session.

Over the next few days, Democratic lawmakers are expected to push through a proposed rewrite of state constitutional requirements for compact districts that consider natural boundaries and city and county lines. Historically, that requirement was interpreted to apply only to General Assembly districts, but a judge cited that provision when blocking Democratic-friendly congressional maps in 2022.

The question of changing the state constitution would then go before Maryland voters for approval in the November general election. Voters historically approve most ballot questions.

Though the special session outcome isn’t in doubt, it took a year of intraparty angst to get all the top Democrats aligned. Opponents questioned the legality and fairness of gerrymandering the state’s one Republican district.

The influential Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland was split on redistricting during the regular legislative session. But it is united now, said Del. N. Scott Phillips, a Baltimore County Democrat and caucus chair.

“I believe, we believe as a caucus, in empowering citizens to make that determination,“ Phillips said. “And then once that determination is made, we’ll move out from there.”

Republican lawmakers, meanwhile, oppose the constitutional change, but as the minority, they’re unable to derail it in the State House.

Republican Sen. Bryan Simonaire of Anne Arundel County announced a campaign to sway voters not to approve the constitutional change in November. In an online video, he called it a “partisan power grab” that removes checks and balances.

The debate has taken a toll

When Trump kicked off the redistricting battles in the summer of 2025, urging Texas to create more GOP-friendly districts, some Maryland politicians jumped right into the fray.

In July 2025, Moon drafted a bill that would require Maryland to redraw its congressional map if another state redistricted outside the usual post-census window every 10 years.

Lam, the state senator, went a step further by announcing plans to introduce a map favorable to Democrats.

The governor, for several weeks, spoke in broad strokes about redistricting as he watched blue and red states go back and forth on map drawing. Moore talked about the need for “fair” maps and how Maryland should be part of the conversation.

Momentum built in October, when then-House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones said she would be “a willing partner.”

But by the end of the month, Senate President Bill Ferguson said his chamber was not on board. In a letter to fellow Senate Democrats, Ferguson wrote that “the legal risks are too high, the timeline for action is too dangerous, the downside risk to Democrats is catastrophic, and the certainty of our existing map would be undermined.”

Sen. Nancy King, the Democratic majority leader from Montgomery County, said Ferguson held strong in the face of pressure. The battle between Ferguson and Moore was “hard on everybody,” she said.

It might have been hardest on King, who supported Ferguson and lost reelection to progressive newcomer Amar Mukunda. Mukunda called the Senate’s reluctance to redistrict “a failure of leadership.”

Moore forged ahead using his office’s leverage. He set up a commission stacked with allies that recommended a map that could have engineered an 8-0 Democratic sweep of the state’s House delegation, adding Democratic-leaning portions of Anne Arundel and Howard counties to Harris’ Eastern Shore-based district.

And while the House of Delegates was on board — all 99 Democratic delegates present voted for the map — the Senate held firm for months.

Moore and national Democrats applied pressure for a Senate vote. No one felt the heat more than Ferguson.

One news outlet dubbed him “the most hated Democrat in America.” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries came to Annapolis to meet with Ferguson in person. And Moore pulled a planned endorsement of Ferguson in the June primary election.

With the primary nearing, Ferguson’s opinion shifted in May, saying he was open to considering a constitutional change to ease map drawing in the future.

Ferguson said that he was influenced by the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in April that weakened the Voting Rights Act, a key federal law that had enabled an increase in Black and Latino elected officials over the years.

“Maryland must respond as the ground shifts under us,” Ferguson said in a late May statement.

He went on to a 13-point win against primary challenger Bobby LaPin.

Neither Ferguson nor Moore scored a victory, but both got some of what they wanted, said Mileah Kromer, director of the Institute of Politics at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

“It’s hard for me to dub either Wes Moore or Bill Ferguson a loser,” Kromer said. “Wes Moore is on track to become a two-term governor of Maryland. And Bill Ferguson just won his primary by double digits and will most likely serve another stint as Senate president.”

Harris, the target of Democrats’ redistricting efforts, said he is ready to fight back. On a recent podcast, he said that redrawing lines based on party affiliation would limit voters’ political speech.

“We’ll litigate it all the way,” said Harris, who is married to Nicole Beus Harris, the state GOP chair. “Game on.”