News: Maryland Democrats aren’t fully sold yet on a mid-decade redrawing of the Free State’s congressional map.
The Democratic congressional delegation met privately on Monday to discuss the logistics of redistricting before 2026, a crucial step in the party’s broader quest to retaliate against Republicans’ gerrymandering.
“It was an interesting exchange of views about where we are, but I don’t think there was any resolution to do anything right now,” Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) said. Raskin called it “a free and frank exchange.”
Democrats remained tight-lipped about the specifics of the discussion, describing it as a preliminary temperature check for the delegation.
The Democrats talked about possible changes to the eight Maryland districts and the potential difficulty of surviving a legal challenge to a new map, according to people familiar with the meeting.
House Democratic leaders are eager to see a new map in Maryland, where the party controls the governorship and both chambers of the state legislature. Democrats already hold seven of the eight congressional seats in the state, but a new map could give them a clean sweep by targeting GOP Rep. Andy Harris on the Eastern Shore.
But redistricting is a deeply personal issue. Several members of the delegation would have to cede Democratic voters to make Harris’ seat blue. Reps. Kweisi Mfume in Baltimore, Johnny Olszewski in Baltimore County and Sarah Elfreth in the Annapolis area could see their seats change the most in redistricting.
And any new map will likely have to shore up Democratic Rep. April Delaney in western Maryland, who has the most competitive of the eight seats.
The Maryland Democrats struck a different tone after their meeting than their California colleagues, who left their own redistricting summit crowing over a planned remap.
“We had a private talk,” Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said when asked about the Democratic meeting.
The courts remain a major concern for Democrats. In the 2022 cycle, Maryland Democrats drew a map that transformed Harris’ deep red district into a battleground seat.
Then a circuit court judge struck down that map as unconstitutional. Democrats were especially stung by this because the judge, Lynne Battaglia, was a onetime chief of staff to former Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.).
The case never even made it to Maryland’s highest court. But as we noted last week, five of those seven judges were appointed by Republican Gov. Larry Hogan.
Still Maryland Democrats are eager to do their part in negating what they see as Republican power grabs in red states and could very well attempt a new map.
The delegation plans to meet again soon for further discussion.
