Maryland's House passed an all-eight-districts-Democratic congressional map 99-37 on 2 February. Senate President Bill Ferguson refused to hold a Senate vote, effectively blocking it1. Judicial Watch analysis characterised the proposed plan as replicating a gerrymander previously struck down as unconstitutional. Republican Representative Andy Harris, who would be drawn out under the new map, has threatened federal and state court challenges.
The Maryland block is self-inflicted. Ferguson, a Democrat, stopped his own party's map, a decision that has no equivalent on the Republican side this cycle. DeSantis in Florida is using executive coordination to accelerate redistricting; Maryland's Democratic leadership is using institutional prerogative to stop it. Washington State's constitutional amendment for mid-decade redistricting also lacks the two-thirds supermajority needed and requires Republican votes it will not get.
The net effect reinforces the redistricting asymmetry identified in the prior briefing. Republican states are redrawing maps; Democratic states are blocked by courts, their own leadership, or supermajority requirements. The structural seats that redistricting adds or subtracts operate independently of the voter sentiment visible in polls and special elections.
