A plane pulling a “Mess with Texas” banner was flown around the The State House on Aug. 4, encouraging Maryland lawmakers to respond to a Texas plan to redistrict mid-decade. Some Democrats are proposing just that. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images for Mess With Texas Project)
A Maryland Democratic senator filed a bill Wednesday that would redraw the state’s congressional districts, in response to a similar effort by Texas Republican legislators who redistricted in time for the 2026 midterm elections.
Sen. Clarence Lam (D-Anne Arundel and Howard), the sponsor of the Maryland bill, said the idea is simple: If red states want to redistrict early, with the goal of picking up additional seats in Congress, blue states should do the same.
“Hopefully, we don’t have to go down this path,” Lam said. “But I think it’s important to send that warning shot across their bows that the effort that they take could all be for naught.”
Even if they go through with it, Maryland Democrats could only pick up one seat: The solidly Republican 1st District, which sprawls over the Eastern Shore and Harford County, is the only one of the state’s eight congressional districts held by a Republican. But that did not deter Lam.
“There are ways to be able to draw a map that would make it more Democratic-leaning. It’s not easy,” Lam said. “But I think it can be done.”
Rep. Andy Harris (R-1st), the sole GOP member of the state’s congressional delegation, warned in a statement Wednesday that any attempt to reconfigure the state’s districts could backfire on Democrats.
“If the Democrats want to roll the dice, let them roll the dice. I look forward to having more Republican colleagues from the state in Congress, and I think that’s what the result is going to be,” Harris said.
But Lam said his biggest reason for filing the bill request was to send a message to any other Republican states considering a mid-decade redistricting push that Democratic states stand ready to fight back.
Lam’s bill would revive the third of four options offered in 2021 by the state’s Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission. Among other changes, it would tie most of the Eastern Shore in with part of Anne Arundel County in a new 1st District.
Cecil and Harford counties would be split off, with Cecil joining a new 2nd District that hugs the Chesapeake Bay in Harford and Baltimore counties and Baltimore City. The rest of Harford would join a new 3rd District bending around the city into Howard.
States typically redraw congressional and legislative boundaries every 10 years, after the decennial census. But Lam is not the first Maryland Democrat to float the idea of an early redistricting.
House Majority Leader Del. David Moon (D-Montgomery) initially floated the idea in July, before Texas acted.
In a statement Wednesday, Moon said he is “continuing to work on two proposals, including both a 50-state treaty to ban mid-decade redistricting and a plan to redistrict Maryland’s congressional districts in response to what’s going on.”
“As we can see, the Texas redistricting continues to generate interest from Maryland officials to draw new congressional maps,” Moon said.
During an appearance on “Face the Nation” Sunday, Gov. Wes Moore (D), who has the power to call a special session of the legislature, said “all options need to be on the table.”
“If the president of the United States is putting his finger on the scale to try to manipulate elections, because he knows that his policies cannot win in a ballot box, then it behooves each and every one of us to be able to keep all options on the table to ensure that the voters’ voices can actually be heard,” Moore said.
With the encouragement of President Donald Trump (R), Texas Republicans last week gave final approval to a redrawn map favoring their party, after Democrats stalled the measure by leaving the state earlier in the month. Other states are mulling similar bids. Deep-blue California will hold a special election in November to let voters decide whether the state should adopt a map designed to help Democrats pick up more seats.
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Lam acknowledges the procedure to redistrict would be “messy.”
For one thing, he believes the General Assembly would likely have to convene for a special session before its typical January return, in order to approve new maps in time for the February 2026 filing deadline for candidates running in the midterms.
Completing a new map during a special session would allow more time for it to potentially work its way through the courts, Lam said, since, “We highly suspect whatever is passed will be sued.”
That’s what happened after the 2020 Census, when a court challenge derailed the legislature’s original map and forced it to select another.
Lam said his proposed map is not the one shot down by the courts, but is an earlier version of that map that was proposed by the Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission but tweaked by lawmakers.
Lam’s proposal also includes something of an olive branch for red states. It would require Maryland to redistrict using a commission independent of the legislature, which Lam considers “good governance.” But only if a mix of other states do the same: California, Texas, Illinois, New York, Florida, Indiana, Missouri, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Ohio.
“We’re not just going to do the right thing while everyone else steps all over us,” Lam said.
He acknowledges that his proposal would “fight fire with fire,” by redistricting for political reasons, just like Texas did. But he argues the situation demands it.
“Democrats have been shy about using every single tool we have to protect our communities,” Lam said. “Republicans have not.”
