Maryland House passes new congressional map, setting up a showdown with the state Senate

The Maryland House approved legislation Monday to redraw the state’s congressional map, sending it to the state Senate, where its future is uncertain.

The bill passed on a vote of 99-37 after hours of heated debate.

The proposed map, which could allow Democrats to pick up an additional seat in this year’s midterm elections, has been pushed by Gov. Wes Moore and national Democrats. But Maryland’s Democratic Senate president, Bill Ferguson, has remained staunchly opposed to the effort.

Maryland is one of Democrats’ few options in the national redistricting arms race in which both parties have scrambled for new electoral opportunities in their battle for the House majority.

Moore, who is seen as a potential future presidential contender, formed an advisory commission on redistricting that asked voters to discuss the issue for weeks before it proposed a map. Maryland’s Democratic-controlled House advanced a map Monday that would go into effect for the 2026 elections, along with a constitutional amendment that would go before voters to determine whether it would also be in effect for the following two election cycles.

Ferguson has said there isn’t enough support in the Democratic-led Senate for the map, which is designed to allow the party to control all eight of Maryland’s congressional districts rather than the current seven. But Monday’s vote will put additional pressure on Ferguson to at least hold a vote.

“Now is the time for the General Assembly to do what Marylanders expect. Debate the map. Improve it, if necessary. And then take the vote,” Moore said last week, testifying at a House committee hearing in support of the legislation.

Moore seemed to single out the legislation’s Democratic opponents in his remarks.

“I know that history is not going to remember the Trump-Vance administration kindly,” he said. “For all those who are looking for all the reasons why we should not respond, instead of using your energy to find ways to respond … history will remember you worse.”

President Donald Trump kick-started an unusually active mid-decade redistricting campaign last summer, when he encouraged GOP-led states, most notable Texas, to redraw their maps to help the party protect its narrow House majority. Six states enacted new maps last year, while Republicans in Florida and Democrats in Virginia are trying to move forward with efforts this year.

Virginia Democrats hope this spring to put a constitutional amendment before voters that would pave the way for a new map, but a court has blocked that effort for now.