Overview
- House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries met in Annapolis with Gov. Wes Moore, House leaders and Senate President Bill Ferguson, urging an immediate up-or-down Senate vote on the House-passed map.
- Ferguson says the votes do not exist and has kept the bill in a Senate committee, warning a mid-cycle redraw could backfire in state courts and politically.
- The proposal, approved by the House of Delegates, would expand the 1st District across the Chesapeake Bay into Anne Arundel and Howard counties, putting Rep. Andy Harris at risk.
- Maryland courts struck down a Democratic map in 2022 as an extreme gerrymander, and five of seven current state supreme court justices were appointed by a Republican governor, heightening judicial risk.
- Republicans denounce outside pressure and threaten lawsuits, with Harris pledging a court challenge as the Feb. 24 candidate filing deadline tightens the window for any change this cycle.