ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Maryland Democrats have rejected an effort to redraw the state's congressional map to boost their party's chances in the midterm elections, a setback for Gov. Wes Moore who put his clout behind the attempt to blunt President Donald Trump's own redistricting campaign.
The clock officially ran out on the proposal late Monday night as the state legislative session ended, a casualty of internal party disagreements. In the end, the Maryland Senate left the bill in a committee, with Democrats who control the chamber concerned it could backfire under judicial review.
The unusual mid-decade redistricting spree, which started when Trump encouraged Republican-controlled Texas to redraw their map last year, is expected to continue next week. Republicans want to change congressional boundaries during a special legislative session in Florida, while Democrats are asking voters to approve a redistricting referendum in Virginia.
But Democrats will not be poised to pick up a seat in Maryland, where the proposed map would have made it easier for voters to oust the state's lone Republican member of the U.S. House.
Moore, a potential 2028 presidential candidate, said he disagreed with another powerful Maryland Democrat, state Senate President Bill Ferguson, about “what is required to be able to make sure we’re fighting back" against Trump.
“This is not a political game to me," Moore said in an interview with The Associated Press. "I don’t look at this as some kind of political talking point. I look at the fact that I think Donald Trump is actively trying to manipulate and change the rules around the November election and beyond because he knows he cannot win on his policies.”
Ferguson has said redistricting could actually cost Democrats seats in Maryland because, in the inevitable legal battle that would ensue, a court could order a new map that would be even less favorable to the party. He refused to budge despite pressure from Moore and U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
While speaking at National Action Network in New York on Thursday with the Rev. Al Sharpton, Moore complained that Trump was urging some states to redraw maps to favor Republicans, while telling other states to “sit on your hands.”
“Don’t play with me," Moore said. "And if the rest of the country is going to have this conversation about mid-decade redistricting, then so should Maryland, and so should every other state. Because until it is done nationally, we have to make sure that this election is not stolen right before our face so this pain is made permanent.”
But while Moore named a panel in November that proposed the new map for Maryland, the governor could not prevail on the heavily Democratic Maryland Senate to approve it.
When it was before the Democratic-controlled General Assembly, the governor told lawmakers in January that the state needed to act to counter what he called “political redlining” by Trump in other states at the cost of Black representation in Congress.
Moore, who is the nation's only serving Black governor, compared Trump’s push for Republican-friendly redistricting to discriminatory housing practices, saying the president and his allies “are doing everything in their power to silence the voices and trying to eliminate Black leadership — elected leadership — all over this country.”
Democrats outnumber Republicans 2-1 in Maryland and already hold a 7-1 advantage in the state’s U.S. House delegation, with Rep. Andy Harris the lone GOP representative.
The Maryland House passed legislation containing a new map in early February, but the measure ran into opposition from Ferguson.
The senator pointed out a map adopted in 2021 that would have made it easier to flip Harris’ seat was ruled unconstitutional by a judge who called it “a product of extreme partisan gerrymandering.” Maryland passed another map in 2022, and the parties dropped their legal fight.
Meanwhile, here's a look at what's happening in other states this month in mid-decade redistricting efforts:
Florida
Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has scheduled a special session next week for the Republican-dominated Legislature to draw new congressional districts.
Currently, 20 of Florida’s 28 congressional seats are held by Republicans.
Congressional districts in Florida that are redrawn to favor Republicans could carry big consequences for Trump’s plan to reshape districts in GOP-led states, which could give Republicans a shot at winning additional seats in the midterm elections and retaining control of the closely divided U.S. House.
Virginia
Early balloting has already begun for a vote on a constitutional amendment for a new congressional map in Virginia next week.
After a cascade of redistricting efforts, Republicans believe they can win a combined nine more U.S. House seats in Texas, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio, while Democrats think they can win a total of six more seats in California and Utah. Virginia could give Democrats an extra four seats.
