Maryland Lawmakers Consider Partisan Redistricting Amendment for 2028 Election
Maryland lawmakers begin special session to debate a constitutional amendment that would give Democrats greater latitude drawing congressional maps, potentially adding one House seat by 2028 amid national redistricting battle following Supreme Court's weakening of Voting Rights Act.
What Happened
Maryland lawmakers will kick 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, according to AP News reporting. The General Assembly will 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. Ferguson 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. Maryland's lone Republican representative in Congress is Rep. Andy Harris, chairperson of the House Freedom Caucus. Harris's 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's district more competitive for a Democrat to win, drawing in communities across the bay. A judge struck down those districts in 2022, calling them a "product of extreme partisan gerrymandering." If approved by a three-fifths vote of both chambers, the amendment would go before voters in the Nov. 3 general election.
If approved there, lawmakers could revisit the congressional maps for the 2028 election cycle under the constitution's new guidance. House Minority Leader Jason Buckel said Republicans are "very concerned with the significant limitations on witnesses, and the reality that any bill hearing is obviously intended to be a brief and meaningless formality."
Rep. Andy Harris said the "gerrymandering that this constitutional amendment sets up" would break up areas of common interest into districts predominated by urban and suburban areas, disenfranchising rural voters. Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat who has expressed frustration over lawmakers' refusal to redistrict earlier this year, cast the move as an urgent necessity in light of Republican moves elsewhere.
The proposal currently before lawmakers will ultimately give voters, not "party bosses" the final say. Maryland's special session is part of a new phase in a national redistricting battle that began a year ago, when President Donald Trump urged Republican-led states to redraw congressional districts to help the party hold on to its slim House majority in the midterm elections.
Republicans think they could win as many as 16 additional seats from new House maps enacted in eight states — Texas, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Florida, Tennessee, Louisiana and Alabama. Democrats, whose counterattack faced several setbacks, think they could win up to six additional seats from new districts in California and Utah. New York's Democratic-led Legislature has approved a proposed constitutional amendment.
Why It Matters
The Maryland redistricting initiative represents a significant escalation in the national battle over congressional map drawing that began after the 2024 midterms. The proposal seeks to codify partisan preferences into state constitutional law, allowing Democrats to draw maps that favor their party while potentially diluting Republican voting power in rural areas.
The timing is critical: following the Supreme Court's decision to weaken the Voting Rights Act in late April, both parties are seeking new legal grounds to influence future elections. Maryland's move comes as Republicans successfully redrawn districts in eight Southern and Midwestern states, raising concerns among Democrats about a coordinated national strategy to shift congressional power.
The constitutional amendment approach is significant because it would require voter approval before any redistricting could occur, adding a democratic check on partisan maneuvering. However, the proposal itself is explicitly partisan, designed to give Democrats greater latitude in map drawing — a move that Republican lawmakers and advocates have criticized as an attempt to entrench Democratic advantage.
The stakes extend beyond Maryland's seven current House seats. If successful, the initiative could add one additional Democratic seat by 2028, potentially shifting the balance of power in Congress. Meanwhile, Republicans argue that the proposal would break up cohesive rural communities and disenfranchise voters with shared interests by drawing districts that mix urban and suburban populations.
What to Watch
- The outcome of Maryland's special session debate on the constitutional amendment
- Whether the proposal achieves the three-fifths vote threshold required in both chambers
- Voter reaction to the amendment if it reaches the ballot for the Nov. 3 general election
- How other states respond to Maryland's approach, particularly Democratic-led jurisdictions
- The potential impact on redistricting efforts in California and Utah, where Democrats are also seeking map advantages
By the numbers
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