The U.S. Constitution requires that district boundaries for representation in the U.S. House of Representatives be based on state population as determined by the results of a national census that is conducted every ten years.
In many states, including Maryland, drawing these district boundaries is done by the state legislature, subject to final approval of the governor.
In such states, redistricting is regularly characterized by gerrymandering, the practice of drawing the boundaries in a way that gives one political party a distinct advantage in elections.
Gerrymandering has been pursued aggressively by the Democratic and the Republican parties, depending on which party controls a state legislature and the governorship.
Following one reapportionment in Maryland, former Democratic Governor Martin O’Malley testified under oath — “I did everything in my power to draw a map that would be more favorable to the election of a Democratic congressional delegation.”
Recently, at the urging of President Trump, Republicans in the Texas state legislature launched a successful effort to discard the historical every ten-year redistricting schedule and redraw congressional district boundaries before the 2026 midterm elections.
Their goal was simple — to enhance the prospects for Republican candidates to flip seats currently held by Democratic members in the U.S. House. That would help Republicans maintain or expand their current House majority for the last two years of a Trump presidency.
Isaac Newton once noted that in physics, for every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction. That is true in politics as well.
Following the gerrymandering in Texas, California Governor Newsom has raised $70 million for Proposition 50, a reapportionment referendum initiative. That amount includes $10 million from George Soro’s Open Society Foundation. Proposition 50’s goal is also simple — to enhance the prospects for Democratic candidates to flip seats currently held by Republican members in the U.S. House.
Legislation has also been introduced in the Maryland House of Delegates and the Maryland Senate for congressional district reapportionment to be done sooner rather than later.
State Senator Clarence Lam, a sponsor of Senate legislation, has said, “If red states want to redistrict early, with the goal of picking up additional seats in Congress, blue states should do the same.”
One proposal of Senator Lam would have a disproportionate impact on the Eastern Shore.
If approved all of the Eastern Shore counties would not be in one congressional district, as they are now. Mid and Lower Eastern Shore counties would be in a new congressional district (CD1) along with parts of Anne Arundel County. Cecil County and a part of Harford County would be in a new CD2 with parts of Baltimore County and Baltimore City. The rest of Harford County would be in a new CD3 with parts of Baltimore City and Howard County.
If an accelerated reapportionment effort in Maryland goes forward, there is a better way to proceed.
In 2021, former Governor Hogan issued an Executive Order creating the Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission.
The Commission had nine members from across Maryland – three Democrats, three Republicans, and three Independents. Stanford Law School Professor Nathaniel Persily, an expert on voting rights and election law, served as an advisor for the Commission.
The commission’s final report, issued in November 2021, included the following observations:
“The lines were drawn without regard to the interests of any party or candidate and without taking into account the place of residence of any incumbent officeholder or other potential candidate, nor did we consider how residents of any community may have voted in the past, or with what political party they may be registered. The Citizens Commission believes its maps embody good redistricting principles, including compactness, minimal splits of counties and municipalities, and a highly understandable layout for congressional representation. Additionally, they offer better adherence to the principle of “one person, one vote” through a closer approach than in past maps to population equality. We are proud that our proposed congressional and senate maps earned a rating of “A” for partisan fairness from the Princeton Gerrymandering Project.”
At the final meeting, Professor Persily told commission members their efforts should be held out as a national model for the way things should be done.
A majority in the General Assembly did not share that conclusion. The state Senate approved its own version of congressional district boundaries with yes votes from all the Democratic Senators and no votes from all the Republican Senators. The state House concurred with 90 yes votes from Democratic delegates and no votes from 40 Republican delegates and 1 Democratic delegate. Accepting the political reality that resistance was futile, Governor Hogan signed the redistricting legislation. Afterwards, Bloomberg Government’s Greg Giroux wrote, “The new map will continue to favor Democrats in seven of eight districts.
In these uncertain political times only one thing is certain.
Reapportionment in Maryland will remain politicized with gerrymandered results unless citizens demand legislative approval of reapportionment recommendations developed by a group comparable to the 2021 Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission.
David Reel is a public affairs and public relations consultant. He is also a consultant for profit organizations on governance, leadership, and management matters. He lives in Easton.
