Republicans challenge redistricting amendment in special session

After the session opened, the Maryland Republican Caucus held a news conference in the rotunda of the Maryland State House to express deep dissatisfaction with the special session called by Gov. Wes Moore.

House Minority Leader Jason Buckel, Senate Minority Leader Steve Hershey, House Minority Whip Jesse Pippy and Senate Minority Whip Justin Ready led the news conference. They described the session as a hyperpartisan effort to change the Maryland Constitution through a ballot measure with confusing language.

“Gerrymandering is wrong,” Hershey said. “It’s wrong in Texas, it's wrong in Ohio, it's wrong in North Carolina. It’s wrong when Republicans do it and it’s wrong when Democrats do it.”

The caucus believes Democrats are avoiding responsibility by pushing the decision to voters and may bend or break rules to achieve their goal. The Senate opposed mid-cycle redistricting in January, and Republicans argue there are greater priorities to discuss, including rising fuel costs, student housing, vehicle registration fees and the broader affordability crisis.

Ready called the session a “sham” driven by Moore’s political ambitions, citing a CNBC ranking that placed Maryland as having the nation’s second-worst state economy. Republicans view the focus on redistricting as an effort to disenfranchise voters, particularly on the Eastern Shore, and silence the minority party’s voice.

“What’s important is taking out the last voice of the minority party,” Ready said. “That is the priority. That is the exercise of this sham special session, is to remove the voice of the last representation we have.”

Republicans plan to fight the proposed legislation, make the process “uncomfortable” for the Democratic majority and use every available tool, including vigorous debate and procedural objections.

During Monday morning’s proceedings, Del. Jefferson Ghrist, R-Kent, Queen Anne’s, Cecil and Caroline, said “the Speaker of the House demanded ‘respect’ during debate over the bill to gerrymander Maryland and threatened to remove Republicans she deems out of order.”

“I stood to respond on behalf of Eastern Shore residents and remind her that changing rules to break them and disenfranchise us is inherently disrespectful. Respect is a two way street,” Ghrist wrote in a statement.

Republicans also objected to the initial presentation of the redistricting bill, saying it was not introduced on time. The House and Senate went almost immediately into recess Monday and reconvened at 4 p.m. to continue discussions.

Sen. Johnny Mautz said in an interview with The Star Democrat that the opening of the session was revealing, with the majority’s bill improperly prepared and violating the required waiting period for introduction, forcing lawmakers to return later in the day. Mautz said he interpreted that as Democrats giving little attention or seriousness to a “defining moment” for the state.

“This is an attack on the fundamental principles of our democratic process,” Mautz said. “You know, it’s not about one candidate or another candidate, it’s about the entire process.”

U.S. Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., represents Maryland’s 1st Congressional District. Democrat Dan Schwartz hopes to defeat Harris without changing the district’s boundaries.

“I believe elections should be decided by voters at the ballot box, not by politicians redrawing maps. I understand why people are frustrated with Congressman Andy Harris, but I don't believe the answer is changing district lines. I've said from the beginning that our democracy is strongest when we give voters more power, not politicians. That's why I continue to support opening Maryland's primaries. More than one million independent voters are shut out of the elections that often decide who represents them. Giving those voters a voice would strengthen our democracy far more than another fight over district lines. If the people of Maryland's First District want new representation, we have an election this November. That's how democracy is supposed to work,” Schwartz wrote in a statement to The Star Democrat.

When Harris was asked about the special session, his office responded to The Star Democrat with a statement:

“Governor Wes Moore, in his quest for the presidency, feels that he has to match Gavin Newsom’s efforts to do hyperpartisan gerrymandering in his state. In a bizarre way, he would actually change the Maryland Constitution to have a double standard for drawing legislative districts—one strict standard for state legislative districts that requires them to be compact and respect geographic and jurisdictional boundaries, and no standard at all for congressional districts, allowing them to be drawn on a purely hyperpartisan basis—the only way they can attempt to eliminate the only Republican district left in the state.”

Buckel argued that the proposed constitutional amendment is not about national politics but about taking away individual rights established in 1776, including the right to contiguous and compact districts.

When asked whether Republicans plan to pursue a lawsuit if the constitutional amendment passes, Hershey said to expect one. He criticized the timing of the session as “insane” because it falls one day before the Aug. 4 deadline for certifying ballot questions, suggesting political posturing.

Before the session opened, Senate President Bill Ferguson defended his and other Democrats’ support for convening the special session. He framed it as a necessary response to a 2022 state court ruling and volatile federal politics.

Ferguson said the amendment seeks to restore longstanding mapmaking standards, provide certainty and allow Maryland voters to decide the issue in November.

Mautz pushed back, calling it a blatant example of a policy being pushed through Annapolis that forces rural Maryland to bear the burden and reinforces a sense of being politically overpowered and overlooked.

“I wonder what Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman would say about this,” Mautz said. “This (the Eastern Shore) is the home of our civil rights heroes for the state of Maryland and we’re going to say, oh, we’re not going to have standards for their representation. It’s mind boggling.”