Md. Gov. Wes Moore starts redistricting process despite key opposition

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) took the first step to starting a mid-cycle redistricting process on Tuesday, moving forward despite staunch opposition from the Maryland Senate president, a fellow Democrat key to making it happen.

Moore announced a redistricting commission that will draft proposed congressional maps ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, pushing for deep-blue Maryland to join a political redistricting arms race, instigated by President Donald Trump, that now involves a dozen states.

“This commission will ensure the people are heard,” Moore said in a statement. The commission, enacted by an executive order, will hold public hearings and is expected to draft new Maryland maps ahead of the annual General Assembly session in January.

In Maryland, Moore and House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones (D-Baltimore County) have embraced joining the effort and potentially ousting the state’s lone Republican congressman, Rep. Andy Harris, who is chair of the House Freedom Caucus and a Trump ally.

But Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) last week announced that his chamber would not move forward with a special session of the General Assembly to redraw the maps, throwing up a roadblock to getting it done.

Moore’s announcement Tuesday sends Maryland down that path anyway, taking the prerequisite step in the state’s process to redraw congressional boundaries. It leaves unanswered, for now, how Moore plans to persuade Ferguson to participate in enacting whatever maps the advisory commission produces.

The five-member Governor’s Redistricting Advisory Commission will be led by Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D), Maryland’s junior senator who served 13 years as a local elected official in Prince George’s County before joining the Senate in January.