ANNAPOLIS, Md. (WBFF) — After fast-tracking a proposed map redrawing the state’s congressional boundaries, the Maryland House of Delegates passed the plan Monday afternoon sending it to the Senate where it’s expected to stall.
Just a few months after Gov. Wes Moore launched a redistricting advisory committee, lawmakers took the first step toward implementation. The proposed map shifts boundaries for all of Maryland’s congressional districts, but nearly entirely reshapes District 1 which is currently held by Congressman Andy Harris, Maryland’s only Republican member of Congress.
“This is not a partisan issue,” House Majority Leader David Moon said on the floor. “I said from the beginning, this is a matter of state rights.”
The vote, which was along party lines, came after three and a half hours of debate and tees up a showdown in the Senate that’s been brewing for months. Senate President Bill Ferguson, a Democrat from Baltimore City, has long argued against jumping into the national redistricting fight.
Citing legal and political concerns, Ferguson has argued against getting involved. Marylanders want their lawmakers to focus on priority issues, like affordability, Ferguson has argued.
“In the Senate, we have consistently, year over year over year, shown that we prioritize our work. We do what we can to make sure that we’re serving Marylanders in their best interest,” Ferguson said Jan. 30. “We’ll continue to do that regardless of what the political outsiders say.”
Republicans have rallied against the map legislation and have vowed to sue over the proposal, if it clears the Senate.
“These districts are not constitutional. They don’t comply with court decisions that were made the last time around when they threw out an extreme partisan gerrymandered map,” House Minority Leader Jason Buckel said prior to the vote. “If Senator Ferguson is not able to hold this off in the Senate, there’s no question it’s going to go to litigation and it’s rolling the dice.”
Buckel said he and other GOP members agree with Senator Ferguson who has argued mid-cycle redistricting is bad for the country.
“At the end of the day, you know that it’s wrong,” Buckel said on the floor.
Throughout the entire process, the question about where the hardline push comes from to get this proposed map through. Gov. Moore has argued the reason he launched the redistricting committee to ensure Marylanders have fair representation.
“I’m really proud of the work that the Governor’s Redistricting Advisory Commission did because they spent the past two months actually listening to Marylanders,” Gov. Moore said.
However, the governor faced more questions in recent weeks as DC Democrats – including House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries – weighed in on Maryland’s efforts and ratcheted up the pressure on Senate President Ferguson to put the plan up for a vote.
“I stand in full believe that the [Senate] President is not going to suppress democracy,” Moore said when asked if Senate President Ferguson poses a challenge. “I have full faith that he’s going to let democracy show itself.”
Jeffries took the rhetoric a step further and said he believes the people of Maryland “deserve an up or down vote.”
On Jan. 23, FOX45 News asked Gov. Moore about the clear national strategy involving Maryland’s redistricting and whether he has been upfront with Marylanders about the goal.
“I’m very upfront, and I’ve been upfront,” Moore said. “This is about Marylanders making sure that our voices are heard and that our democracy is not being determined by anyone else.”
This story will be updated.
Follow Political Reporter Mikenzie Frost on X and Facebook. Send tips to mbfrost@sbgtv.com.
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