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Maryland
Nation / PlaceUS

Maryland

Mid-Atlantic US state; Democratic supermajority legislature whose own Senate president blocked an all-Democratic congressional map in March 2026.

Last refreshed: 9 July 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic

Key Question

Why is Maryland's own Democratic supermajority unable to redraw its map before the 2026 midterms?

Timeline for Maryland

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Common Questions
Why was Maryland's congressional redistricting blocked in 2026?
Maryland's House passed an all-8-seats Democratic map 99-37, but Senate President Bill Ferguson refused to hold a Senate vote, blocking it. The proposed map may have repeated a gerrymander previously struck down by courts.Source: event
How many congressional seats does Maryland have and who holds them?
Maryland has 8 congressional seats, currently split 7 Democratic and 1 Republican. The blocked redistricting plan would have converted the delegation to 8-0 Democratic.
Who are Maryland's US senators?
Maryland's two US senators are Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks, both Democrats. Van Hollen sits on the Foreign Relations and Appropriations Committees; Alsobrooks won the seat vacated by Ben Cardin in November 2024.Source: https://www.senate.gov/

Background

Maryland is a mid-Atlantic state with six million residents and a congressional delegation currently standing 7-1 Democratic (the sole Republican is Andy Harris in MD-1). The state has a Democratic governor (Wes Moore, elected 2022) and Democratic supermajorities in both chambers of the General Assembly. The Chesapeake Bay dominates its eastern geography; the state contains the Washington DC suburbs of Montgomery and Prince George's counties, which drive its heavily Democratic lean.

Maryland produced the most striking example of intra-party conflict in the 2026 mid-decade redistricting wave. The Maryland House passed an all-eight-seats-Democratic congressional map by 99-37 on 2 February 2026, but Senate President Bill Ferguson refused to hold a Senate vote, citing concern that the plan would repeat a gerrymander already struck down by the courts. The session ended on 10 March 2026 without a Senate vote, formally ending the attempt. After the Supreme Court's Callais ruling on 29 April 2026 gutted the VRA Section 2 majority-minority mandate, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries named Maryland as a Democratic retaliation target, dispatching Ranking Member Joseph Morelle to Albany on 4 May to coordinate a multi-state response. By June, Lowdown's own tracking confirmed that effort as a 2028 setup rather than a 2026 fix: every Democratic mid-decade redistricting track, Maryland's included, is now closed, alongside Virginia's SCOVA loss and New York's constitutional bar before 2028. Maryland's 7-1 delegation will run under its existing lines in November.

More questions
Why did Maryland's Senate block its own redistricting map?
Senate President Bill Ferguson refused to schedule a vote on the Democratic House map, concerned it would repeat the gerrymander previously struck down by the courts. The House passed the map 99-37 to make the 8-seat delegation all-Democrat.Source: https://lowdown.today/t/us-midterms-2026/
Why did Maryland's Senate president block the redistricting map?
Senate President Bill Ferguson refused to schedule a Senate vote on the 99-37 House-passed map in early 2026, reportedly citing risk of federal court challenge based on the 2022 ruling that struck down the previous all-Democratic gerrymander.Source: Maryland General Assembly records
Will Maryland redraw its congressional map after the Callais ruling?
House Minority Leader Jeffries named Maryland as a Democratic retaliation target on 4 May 2026 after the Callais ruling; as of 7 May 2026 no session has been called, but Ranking Member Morelle was tasked with coordinating the response.Source: Jeffries office statement
How many Democratic seats could Maryland gain from redistricting?
Maryland's current delegation is 7-1 Democratic. The February 2026 proposal would have made it 8-0; whether a legally defensible post-Callais version could achieve the same result depends on the state court's view of the 2022 ruling.
Who is the governor of Maryland in 2026?
Wes Moore, a Democrat elected in 2022, is the Governor of Maryland. Maryland also has Democratic supermajorities in both chambers of the General Assembly.
Did Maryland ever pass its all-Democratic congressional map?
No. The Maryland House passed an 8-0 Democratic map 99-37 in February 2026, but Senate President Bill Ferguson refused to schedule a vote, and by June 2026 Lowdown confirmed every Democratic mid-decade redistricting track, including Maryland's, was closed for the 2026 cycle.Source: Lowdown
Source Material
Maryland General Assembly — Official WebsiteMaryland — Wikipedia