Maryland lawmakers considering steps toward partisan redistricting for 2028

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’s 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 reshaped the U.S.

House map ahead of this year’s midterms.Democratic state Senate President Bill Ferguson blocked a different redistricting initiative 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 weakened the Voting Rights Act in late April.

That decision offered new grounds for Republicans to swiftly reconfigure districts in Southern states with large minority populations that have elected Democrats, moves that Ferguson called “painful” to watch.“It felt like the unwinding of any type of democratic norms in the blink of an eye,” Ferguson said in an interview.Deep blue Maryland could gain one seatMaryland'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 a judge struck down those districts in 2022, calling them a “product of extreme partisan gerrymandering.”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 — including that districts be compact in form and have regard given to “natural boundaries” — apply only to General Assembly districts, not congressional one… 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. Deep blue Maryland’s 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 reshaped the U.S.

House map ahead of this year’s midterms. Democratic state Senate President Bill Ferguson blocked a different redistricting initiative earlier this year that could have put new maps in place before the fall elections, worried the move could backfire upon judicial review. “It felt like the unwinding of any type of democratic norms in the blink of an eye,” Ferguson said in an interview.

Deep blue Maryland could gain one seat Maryland’s lone Republican representative in Congress is Rep. 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.