The Maryland House of Delegates is advancing a bill to redraw Maryland’s Congressional map in favor of Democrats to its third and final vote in the chamber, but the bill is likely to sit in a draw if it reaches the Senate.

The new map is inching forward amid a nationwide redistricting “arms race” that began this past summer when President Donald Trump called on Texas to redistricit in favor of Republicans ahead of the 2026 election.

Over the past several months, Gov. Wes Moore has increasingly encouraged lawmakers to pursue early redistricting as a way to fight back against the Trump administration’s policies.

“It is imperative that Maryland do its part to ensure that Congress is able to function as a meaningful check on executive overreach. And now is the time for the General Assembly to do what Marylanders expect, debate the map, improve it if necessary and then take the vote,” Moore said at the bill’s committee hearing on Tuesday.

The new map would make major changes to the state’s only Republican-held district on the Eastern Shore, looping in Democratic regions of Anne Arundel and Howard Counties.

After two days of extension requests from GOP lawmakers, the House debated four Republican-introduced amendments on the bill — all were rejected.

The amendments ranged from attempting to strike the map in its entirety, proposing a new map, prohibiting mid-cycle redistricting, altering state constitutional language around drawing maps and removing various sections from the bill.

Not only does HB0488 propose the new Congressional map, but it also includes a constitutional amendment for Marylanders’ consideration.

Democrats are proposing three key constitutional changes, which would be on the ballot this November; the first would keep the new map in place for the 2028 and 2030 elections until a new map is drawn after the 2030 census.

The second would allow the General Assembly to grant original jurisdiction to the Maryland Supreme Court over cases of Congressional districting.

Currently, if someone wants to challenge the legality of Maryland’s Congressional map, the case goes to circuit court and then has to go through two rounds of appeals before reaching the state’s high court.

The final constitutional alteration, which sparked over an hour of debate on Thursday, would codify that map-drawing guidelines outlined in the Maryland Constitution would only apply to state legislative districts, not to Congressional districts.

“Each legislative district shall consist of adjoining territory, be compact in form, and of substantially equal population. Due regard shall be given to natural boundaries and the boundaries of political subdivisions,” reads Article III, Section 4 of the state constitution.

Judge Lynne Battaglia struck down a newly drawn Maryland Congressional map in 2021 for “extreme partisan gerrymandering,” and specifically cited Article III, Section 4 as one of the justifications behind her ruling.

But Del. C.T. Wilson (D-Charles County), the bill’s sponsor, and House Republican Leader Jason Buckel (R-Allegany County) sparred over Battaglia’s legal interpretation.

“History says Judge Battaglia is wrong,” Wilson said, citing subsequent legal opinions and arguing that Maryland voters rejected language that would have clarified the guidelines apply to Congressional maps over fifty years ago.

Buckel argued both legislative districts and Congressional districts should follow the guidelines outlined in the state constitution.

“There is no reason to have separate rules and to have separate standards unless the only purpose of this is an extreme partisan gerrymander designed to reflect a partisan purpose alone,” Buckel said.

His amendment that would have codified the constitutional language applying to both types of maps failed 98-39.

Del. Matt Morgan (R-St. Mary’s County) made a case for splitting the bill into two pieces of legislation — one with the map, one with the constitutional amendment.

“You put in a constitutional amendment to try to have the voters legalize what you're trying to hope to implement — [have] the voters legalize it eight months after we pass it through this chamber,” Morgan said. “The mere fact that you turned in this constitutional amendment, it's self-emission that this map is not contiguous, not compact, not politically subverse, and that is an absolute fact.”

Wilson refuted this notion, arguing he has the “utmost confidence in the constitutionality” of the bill.

“I know what the law says. I also know how we handle process, so I'm more than comfortable with that going to court,” he said.

The bill is likely to receive its third and final vote of approval in the House on Monday, but its toughest battle still awaits.

While the Senate — like the House — maintains a Democratic supermajority, Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) has remained a staunch opponent of early redistricting.

When asked directly at a press conference last week if he would allow a vote on the map if it reaches the Senate, Ferguson responded: “We are focused on the things that matter most for Marylanders, that's what we're going to focus our time on.”

Ferguson says he does not believe his disagreement with the governor over redistricting is tarnishing their professional relationship.

“There's a different legal interpretation [than the Moore administration] on this one. We believe that it is best to take the option that is the least risky in order to make sure that we have the highest and strongest protection against the federal government, we don't want to go backwards at this moment,” he told members of the press on Friday.