Maryland Democrats begin advancing redistricting constitutional amendment

Maryland Democrats already hold seven of the state's eight House seats. That's not enough, apparently. So the legislature is now moving a constitutional amendment designed to let them draw a map before 2028 that could squeeze out the last Republican district standing. Say what you want about gerrymandering being a bipartisan sport, but this is a state where one party controls everything and is using that total control to erase the last sliver of opposition representation. That's not redistricting reform. That's mop-up.

The timing tells you everything. This push started right after national Democrats got spooked by Texas and other red states redrawing their own lines. Suddenly Annapolis needed a "constitutional amendment" to clear legal hurdles that were apparently fine for a decade until the math stopped favoring them. Nobody in Maryland woke up one day newly concerned about fair maps. They woke up worried about the House majority.

We've said the same thing about red states doing this, and we'll say it again here: when a legislature draws itself a permanent advantage, voters lose the ability to actually change anything. Maryland Republicans already have almost no path to a House seat statewide. Squeezing the last one out doesn't reflect the state's politics, it just locks in whoever already has the pen.

If Democrats want to make the case that partisan gerrymandering is bad for democracy, fine, we're listening. But you don't get to make that argument in Congress while doing the exact same thing in Annapolis to kill the last opposition seat in the state. Pick a side. Either the maps should reflect voters or they should reflect whoever's currently winning. Maryland just told you which one it believes.