Maryland Democrats make a new play to redraw their House map for 2026
Dozens of Maryland Democratic lawmakers are proposing a plan to immediately redraw the state’s congressional districts before the 2026 elections, a move that could potentially help Democrats win an additional seat in the House of Representatives.
In addition to putting in place a new temporary map for 2026, the plan presented Friday would also ask voters to bless new district boundaries for the next two congressional elections. If voters don’t approve, the state will revert to the maps it used in the 2024 election cycle.
The move comes as Democrats in the state Legislature deadlock over the idea of redrawing lines in time for this year’s elections — and days after Democratic Gov. Wes Moore’s redistricting commission recommended a new map that would make the state’s only Republican-held district more competitive.
Moore’s office told NBC News it supports the new legislation.
Maryland is one of a handful of blue and red states considering redistricting before the midterm elections, part of a national battle that began last summer when Texas Republicans redrew their congressional lines to create additional GOP seats.
Maryland’s congressional delegation is currently heavily Democratic, 7-1. But some in the party would like to see an 8-0 map, although a state court in 2022 rejected an attempt to draw an 8-0 Democratic map as a partisan gerrymander.
State Rep. David Moon, majority leader in the state House of Delegates, told NBC News the new map would be “substantially similar” to the map approved by the governor’s redistricting commission. And he presented the bill as a compromise that allows concerned Democrats to “respond in a timely manner” in the midst of national redistricting while still allowing the state’s voters to have the final say on whether or not to use the maps in the future.
“We are sending a thoughtful product that best incorporates the feedback we received from the Senate,” Moon said.
“We need to address the emergency here in Maryland, and this bill is designed to address the emergency that we face, frankly, with Donald Trump asking many states to consider their redistricting plans in the middle of the decade,” Moon continued.
Moon added that lawmakers should “make a call for 2026 and, of course, let voters decide” as soon as possible on how to move forward, because there “is no mechanism to call an early special election just to debate a redistricting map.”
Moore and Democratic leaders in the state House of Delegates want Maryland to redraw its congressional lines now to mitigate the effects of Republican-led shakeups in states like Texas, Missouri and North Carolina.
But Bill Ferguson, the Democratic president of the state Senate, repeatedly resisted, arguing that the Senate Democratic caucus would not support the move. Ferguson says redistricting would be a political risk and that it was up to Maryland Democrats to lower the temperature instead of joining the national fight over redistricting.
Ferguson, through a spokesperson, declined to comment on the new legislation.
Moore met with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Capitol Hill on Thursday and later spoke with reporters about redistricting. Asked about the standoff between pro-redistricting Democrats and Ferguson, the governor told reporters: “I believe in democracy. I believe in letting the voice of the people be heard, and I know Senate President Ferguson does too.”
“I am fully convinced that the [Senate] the president is not going to suppress democracy. He believes in democracy. So I think I have full confidence that he’s going to let democracy manifest,” Moore added.
The legislation, if passed, would almost certainly trigger a legal challenge.
Moon told NBC News that attorneys for the House of Delegates “believe this is a strong and constitutional bill” and noted that the bill would allow the Legislature to immediately submit any challenges directly to the state Supreme Court so a decision can be made quickly.
