Maryland Democrats in the General Assembly passed an alternate congressional map Wednesday — just as the state vowed to fight a court ruling finding that Democrats had engaged in what the judge called “extreme partisan gerrymandering” in the original map.
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Lawmakers were rushing to meet a court-imposed deadline to draw a new map after Anne Arundel County Senior Judge Lynne A. Battaglia invalidated the one Democrats passed in December, finding on Friday that it violated the state constitution’s rules for drawing legislative districts.
But just after the Maryland House passed the alternate map on a party-line vote, Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh (D) filed a notice indicating the state will appeal Battaglia’s ruling. He filed notices in the Maryland Court of Appeals and Special Court of Appeals.
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This means that until the higher courts resolve the case, it’s unclear what map will be used in the midterm elections, as control of the U.S. House hangs in the balance and candidates and voters in potentially competitive Maryland districts are left waiting to know what their districts will look like.
“Hypocrisy continues to reign supreme in the Maryland General Assembly,” Doug Mayer, a spokesman for Fair Maps Maryland, an anti-gerrymandering organization aligned with Gov. Larry Hogan (R), said in a statement to The Washington Post. “On the same day they pass court-ordered new maps, they are still clawing with their fingernails to hold on to one of the most gerrymandered maps in the history of this country.”
Battaglia on Friday threw out the congressional map that the General Assembly passed in December on the grounds that it violated the state constitution’s provisions for drawing legislative districts — the first time in Maryland history a judge has applied those rules to congressional rather than state districts. And she gave the General Assembly five days to submit a new map for her review.
Judge throws out Maryland congressional map over ‘extreme’ gerrymandering
The new map, which passed both chambers on an overwhelmingly party-line vote, would probably preserve Democrats’ 7-to-1 advantage in the congressional delegation, though it could make one Democratic area more competitive. Republicans charged that, while the map includes more compact districts, the Democratic advantage still amounted to a partisan gerrymander.
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The alternate map would be used only in this year’s midterm elections if Battaglia finds that it passes constitutional muster, and if her ruling stands. Battaglia will hold a hearing Friday to review the alternate map.
“The maps are prettier, but they still violate the constitution of Maryland. They’re still engaging in extreme gerrymandering,” said Del. Mark N. Fisher (R-Calvert), referring to the districts in the alternate map. “And I can only hope, and I pray, that the courts in this state will look at these maps and find the same thing again … which is once again, cheating is occurring.”
Battaglia’s ruling, if upheld, would permanently upend how the majority party in Maryland — for decades, the Democrats — draws congressional maps, restricting parties from using their power to seek political advantages within the map in ways that could violate the constitution.
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More immediately, the outcome of the litigation could have major impacts on the outlook for this year’s congressional races.
Democrats around the state have been particularly gleeful about a potential opportunity to defeat Rep. Andy Harris (R) on the Eastern Shore after the original congressional map made his seat significantly more competitive for a Democratic challenger. But that opportunity all but evaporates under the alternate map, which retains a strong Republican bent that has helped Harris remain in Congress for the past decade.
A new map gives Democrats a shot on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Three are vying for a chance to oust Rep. Andy Harris.
Further, the alternate map would create a much more competitive race for Rep. David Trone (D) in Western Maryland — whom national Republicans are already targeting. And Trone indicated Wednesday that the map had him concerned, perhaps a worrisome sign for Democrats.
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In a lengthy statement Wednesday, Trone acknowledged that the map could put his district in play and make his bid for reelection tougher. “Some have said that the new design of the Sixth District endangers my chance of being re-elected and makes this a swing district. I don’t disagree,” Trone said.
But he added that his main concern was how the alternate map would affect 6th District voters. He said he was disappointed the legislature excluded areas along the Potomac River such as “rural Potomac” in Montgomery County from the 6th, saying they have shared interests with places like Cumberland in the rural northwest part of the state and are historically connected by the C&O Canal.
Potomac, where Trone lives, and other areas in Montgomery County that Trone cited are also full of Democratic voters — which is what has made the district safer for Democrats in the past. Under the alternate map, President Biden would have still won the district by nearly 10 percentage points in 2020. But David Wasserman, a redistricting analyst at the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, said the 6th would probably move to “leans Democrat” status vs. being a safe Democratic seat, leaving an opening for Republicans. Analysts at FiveThirtyEight on Thursday went further, giving the district an R+1 rating and describing it as “highly competitive.”
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Del. Neil C. Parrott (R-Washington), one of the plaintiffs in the litigation and a congressional candidate seeking the Republican nomination to challenge Trone, said in an interview Tuesday he believed the 6th District was more winnable for a Republican under the alternate map. But he still voted against it Wednesday, echoing colleagues who charged that Democrats did not go far enough to undo what Republicans consider Democrats’ unfair advantage.
Republicans, including Parrott, wanted the legislature to use Hogan’s citizens commission map, which probably would have yielded a 6-to-2 congressional delegation. Parrott introduced an amendment seeking to replace the alternate map with the citizens commission map, which failed.
Defending the map, House Majority Leader Eric G. Luedtke (D-Montgomery) said that map-drawers with the Maryland Department of Legislative Services sought to comply with the judge’s order, specifically to draw more compact districts and to reduce the number of times counties were split into multiple congressional districts.
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“This map makes every effort to meet the judge’s requirements in the order,” he said. “It is a map I think the people of Maryland can be proud of.”
Once the map is formally presented to the governor, Hogan has six days to sign it, veto it, or let it become law without his signature.
The Maryland Court of Appeals will probably pay particular attention to the portion of Battaglia’s opinion finding that rules laid out in the constitution for legislative districts — such as that they must be compact and respect natural boundaries and political subdivisions — apply to congressional districts. Battaglia was the first judge in state history to apply those rules to federal districts, as the state repeatedly argued that those rules should only apply to state legislative districts.
“This is the first time in 160 years that that has been applied [to congressional districts],” Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) said Tuesday. “So we tried to work as expeditiously and thoughtfully as possible to comply with that, and we’ll have to see.”
Erin Cox and Ovetta Wiggins contributed to this report.