Maryland Democratic Leaders Schedule August Special Session to Clear Path for 2028 Congressional Map

In a strategic escalation of the national redistricting wars, Maryland’s Democratic legislative leaders have officially scheduled a three-day special legislative session for August 3 to August 5, 2026. The sole purpose of the session is to draft and pass a state constitutional amendment that would clear the legal path for midcycle congressional redistricting ahead of the 2028 elections.¹

Bypassing Legal Hurdles to Target the State's Lone Republican District

The legislative push is a direct response to recent federal and state court rulings that have favored Republican mid-decade line-drawing across the country. Currently, Maryland's constitution restricts congressional redistricting to the immediate aftermath of the decennial census. The proposed amendment seeks to grant the General Assembly explicit authority to redraw congressional boundaries midcycle.

If passed by the legislature during the August session, the amendment will be placed directly on the November 2026 ballot for voter approval. If approved by voters, Maryland Democrats intend to redraw the state’s congressional map to target the 1st Congressional District, currently held by the state's lone Republican in Congress, Representative Andy Harris.

Fierce Partisan Pushback and Accusations of "Disenfranchisement"

The announcement of the special session has triggered intense criticism from Republican leaders, who accuse Democrats of manipulating the state constitution for partisan gain. Representative Andy Harris blasted the initiative, accusing Democratic Governor Wes Moore of backing the measure to advance his national political ambitions.

“They will attempt to word the amendment. So it’s confusing, whereas I think it should be amended,” Rep. Andy Harris said. “The wording should be, ‘hey, you’re going to vote for a constitutional amendment that creates a double standard for redistricting, a different one for legislative districts and a different one for congressional districts.’”

Harris also warned that the redistricting effort could backfire on Democrats by stretching their voter margins too thin across multiple districts.

“You obviously have to take Democrats from other districts in order to make my district more Democrats,” Harris added. “So it could create three potential districts where in the right year a Republican could win.”

State Senate Minority Leader Steve Hershey also strongly opposed the special session, arguing that Democrats are "changing the rules before they break them" to secure a complete partisan sweep of the state's congressional delegation.

An instance of A state cannot execute a partisan mid-decade redistricting plan without establishing an explicit state constitutional mandate. — Maryland Democratic leaders are scheduling a special session to amend the state constitution because current limits prevent mid-decade redistricting. ↩︎

Part of

This finding is an example of a pattern recurring across your work:

Electoral map-making is no longer a once-a-decade battle.

This finding shows national political organizations conducting aggressive, mid-cycle maneuvers to redraw legislative lines between decennial census years.

A partisan mid-decade redistricting push cannot succeed without bypass-ready state-level constitutional amendments.

Recognizing that mid-decade redistricting is otherwise blocked, party leaders convened a special session specifically to alter the state constitution.

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