Last November, Governor Moore created a Governor’s Redistricting Advisory Commission (GRAC). His goal was for GRAC to develop and deliver recommendations to the General Assembly on new congressional district maps before the 2026 Congressional elections.
They did that but their recommendations quickly encountered mixed reactions. They had strong support from the leadership in the House of Delegates and equally strong opposition from the leadership in the Senate. As a result, the GRAC proposed maps will not be considered before the General Assembly adjourns at midnight on April 13, 2026.
Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson recently said, “I think everybody had already moved past this issue.” House Majority Leader David Moon told a reporter for Maryland Matters, “We’ve thrown in the towel on a [new] map, The Senate has won that discussion. There’s not going to be a map. It’s done.”
Maybe done for now, but nothing in politics is done permanently.
There are indications that supporters of new maps may pursue a long play for the long game strategy on this issue with a sustained effort over time to achieve a long-time goal.
In this case, the long-term goal is to redraw the current congressional district boundary maps in Maryland in a way that increases the potential for every Democratic candidate in all eight districts to be elected or reelected. That is not a momentous change in the status quo. The only district currently with a Republican member of Congress is CD 1, a district that includes all of the Eastern Shore and is held by Congressman Andy Harris.
The long-term strategy to achieve the goal of an all-Democratic congressional delegation may include at least three tactics.
Tactic one could be the General Assembly and the Governor approve placing an amendment to the Maryland Constitution before voters in a statewide referendum.
Tactic two could be wording the amendment to revise current language in the constitution that mandates, “Each legislative district shall consist of adjoining territory, be compact in form, and of substantially equal population. Due regard shall be given to natural boundaries and the boundaries of political subdivisions.” The change would exclude identifying congressional districts as a legislative district but keep it for the state’s 47 General Assembly districts.
Tactic three could be a new mandate that the Supreme Court of Maryland is the only Maryland court authorized to rule on challenges to the constitutionality of new congressional district maps written by the General Assembly and approved by the Governor.
With Democratic supermajorities in the Maryland General Assembly and a Democratic governor in the foreseeable future, approval for placing such a constitutional amendment on the ballot for a statewide referendum should be easy.
Securing a majority of yes votes from voters in statewide referendum may not.
Supporters and opponents of constitutional amendments on this issue will do well to monitor the outcomes of an April 21 special election referendum in Virginia. Voters there will decide the fate of a proposed constitutional amendment for the General Assembly to temporarily regain authority to draw the state’s congressional district maps instead of a bipartisan commission. The authority to draw congressional district maps would revert back to the commission following the 2030 census.
Early voting in this referendum is already underway with interesting contrasts. Some Virginia media outlets are reporting that supporters of a yes vote in this referendum are not doing well despite outspending supporters of a no vote by a staggering fourteen to one ratio. That may reflect previous polling results on this issue.
One survey of Virginia residents in mid-February found that 62 percent of respondents approve of a bipartisan commission drawing congressional maps. Another survey in January had similar results with 63 percent of registered voters supporting the status quo.
A bi partisan independent redistricting commission has measurable support in Maryland as well. In a survey conducted by the University of Maryland, Baltimore County’s Institute of Politics, 63% said redistricting maps should be drawn by a nonpartisan, independent commission.
For those supporting a nonpartisan independent commission in Maryland for congressional redistricting there is a model.
That model is former Governor Hogan’s Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission.
Unlike Governor Moore’s Commission that include a Democratic U.S. Senator as chair, a former Democratic state Attorney General and the Democratic Speaker in the state House of Delegates, Hogan’s Commission had nine members from across Maryland. There were three Democrats, three Republicans, and three Independents. None were a current or former elected official except for one who was elected twice as a County State’s Attorney.
Stanford University Law School Professor Nathaniel Persily, an expert on voting rights and election law, served as an advisor for the commission.
Professor Persily told Hogan commission members their efforts should be held out as a national model for the way things should be done.
The Hogan commission’s final report also earned an “A+” for fairness from the Princeton Gerrymandering Project.
Now is the time for voters committed to less gerrymandering in Maryland to be energized, mobilized, and engaged in a long game strategy with a goal of using the Hogan model or one comparable to it for whenever the next round of drawing congressional district maps occurs.
2 Responses
Mr. Reel, I suggest the long-term strategy for the Democratic Party in Maryland is to offset the fascist move by Trump to have red states overtly redistrict in order to help stave off a massive legislative defeat in the 2026 elections. Somehow, you missed that. Do you not understand democracy? You appear to support autocracy other than in Maryland.
If it happens that Andy Harris loses his seat, good for all of District 1. Harris represents the interests of Donald Trump and not his constituents. He failed to vote to accept the Electoral College results on January 6, 2021 supporting Trump’s effort to undermine our electoral process. He often takes public credit for legislation that he himself voted against. He voted for the SAVE Act that will restrict the right of millions of women to vote. Why would you support that anti-democratic, anti-American dolt?
Mr. Terrone,
I do understand d democracy and do not support autocracy anywhere. You are exhibit A for the observation of Frank Luntz who has written — “It’s not what you write or say, it is what people read or hear. You can have the best message in the world, but the person on the receiving end will always understand it through the prism of their own emotions, preconceptions, prejudices, and preexisting beliefs. Di d you miss the fact that I did not express support for Andy Harris anywhere in my column. The only reference I made on him was to state a fact, not an opinion. I wrote “The only district currently with a Republican member of Congress is CD 1, a district that includes all of the Eastern Shore and is held by Congressman Andy Harris.” I also wrote that I support non -partisan redistricting in Maryland. I support your constitutional ight of free speech which allows you to to suggest that my support for non partisan congressional map redistricting in Maryland is somehow the same as supporting a person that you write is an “anti-democratic, anti-American dolt.”