As court ruling prompts states to redistrict, Maryland remains on the sidelines

In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court gutting parts of the federal Voting Rights Act that enabled a significant increase in Black and Latino elected officials, several states are scrambling to redraw their congressional districts.

Blue and red states alike are contemplating special legislative sessions to adopt new maps, seeing an opening for political gerrymandering. Louisiana — a Republican-led state whose map was at the center of the high court’s decision — is even putting its primary election on hold.

But Maryland has not joined the fray because Democrats, who dominate state politics, are split on the idea.

A prominent segment — including Gov. Wes Moore — wants a map that would give them a chance at sweeping all eight Maryland seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and help usher their party back to national power. Maryland currently has seven Democrats and one Republican, U.S. Rep. Andy Harris, in its House delegation.

But state Senate President Bill Ferguson and some moderate Democrats have opposed the idea, worried about its legality and the politics.

For now, top Maryland Democrats will only go so far as to say they’re considering their options.

“My position remains unmoved: Until we have national redistricting reform, every state should stay part of the conversation,” Moore said in a statement.

What does Maryland’s part of the conversation look like? Moore didn’t say.

Moore previously argued that Maryland needed the 8-0 map to counteract efforts by President Donald Trump and Republicans to eliminate or silence the voices of Black leadership.

Maryland House Speaker Joseline Peña-Melnyk led her chamber in passing a version of Moore’s favored map before it stalled in the state Senate. She touted that effort in her statement following the ruling in Louisiana v. Callais, but didn’t say what the next step would be.

“It was the right thing to do to meet the moment we are in. And while none of us like the moment, it was a fight we could not ignore,” said Peña-Melnyk, a Democrat from Prince George’s County.

The House majority leader, Del. David Moon, feels urgency to redraw Maryland’s map to counteract the Republican-led states that are emboldened by the high court ruling to slice up districts represented by Democrats and people of color.

Maryland’s slow consideration of redistricting is likely being “laughed at” by other states “that are just rolling through in their march to power,” said Moon, a Montgomery County Democrat.

“It’s certainly no comfort to me to watch this going on while Maryland is going to sit on the sidelines,” he said.

Moon said he’s working on legislation for the 2027 General Assembly session, but isn’t yet ready to reveal details. He’s lobbying state senators to get on board, after the Senate blocked the Democratic-friendly map in the most recent session. He thinks the Supreme Court ruling might motivate some to “revisit their thinking on this.”

One likely option is to ask voters to sign off on changing the state constitution to specify that congressional districts are not required to be compact or respect existing boundaries like county lines.

That provision was cited by a state judge in her ruling throwing out a previous batch of redistricting maps in 2022. Removing it would give lawmakers a freer hand to draw new districts before the next midterm elections in 2028.

Lawmakers could call a special legislative session in the coming months to put the question before voters in the fall general election — a tricky proposition. But it also would be tricky for Democrats to wait until 2028 to change the constitution.

The Maryland House voted twice to ask voters to update the state constitution, but it was blocked by the state Senate, which also refused to consider the proposed Democratic-friendly map.

The Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland could sway the debate if members are united, given they represent more than one-third of the legislature. During the recent General Assembly session, the group did not reach a consensus on whether to redistrict or not, according to Del. N. Scott Phillips, a Baltimore County Democrat and chair of the caucus.

In a statement issued after the Supreme Court ruling, the caucus opted not to mention redistricting and instead highlighted the new Maryland Voting Rights Act, which focuses on how county-level districts are drawn.

“When the Supreme Court weakens federal protections, states must step forward,” Phillips said in the statement. “Maryland did exactly that.”

Ferguson has cautioned that state courts could throw out a gerrymandered map and Maryland could end up with a new map with more districts favoring Republicans.

The Baltimore Democrat’s team says he stands by that analysis, noting that the legal calculation has remained unchanged because the peril lies in how state courts interpret the state constitution — not in any interpretation of federal laws.

Ferguson signaled in a statement that he’s open to considering options going forward.

“As the federal government continues to wreak havoc on democracy and civil liberties, the Senate Democratic Caucus and I will continue to evaluate all methods of fighting back against the lawless Trump Administration,” he said.