Maryland Gov. Wes Moore launched an effort to redraw congressional maps Tuesday with the hope of squeezing out the state’s lone Republican representative before next year’s midterms.
Mr. Moore, a Democrat, tapped U.S. Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, also a Democrat, to chair the five-member Governor’s Redistricting Advisory Commission, which will hold hearings and record the public’s input before making a recommendation.
“My commitment has been clear from day one — we will explore every avenue possible to make sure Maryland has fair and representative maps,” Mr. Moore said in the statement. “This commission will ensure the people are heard. I thank those who have raised their hands to lead this process, and I am confident in their ability to gather the views and perspectives of a broad range of voices throughout the state.”
Senate President Bill Ferguson as well as Maryland House Speaker Adrienne Jones, or their designees, will have a seat on the commission. They will be joined by Mr. Moore’s appointments of Cumberland Mayor Ray Morriss and former Attorney General Brian Frosh.
The governor charged ahead with the redistricting push despite Mr. Ferguson, a Democrat, telling state lawmakers last week that his body will not attempt to redraw the congressional map before 2026.
Mr. Ferguson expressed concern about legal challenges, especially if they go before Maryland’s conservative-leaning Supreme Court. Former Republican Gov. Larry Hogan appointed five of the seven sitting justices.
Those legal challenges also could “unintentionally give Donald Trump one or two additional Congressional seats,” Mr. Ferguson said in a statement.
But Rep. Andy Harris, Maryland’s sole Republican in Congress, expects his party to get a raw deal from the governor’s redistricting ambitions.
“In a state that elected Republicans in two out of the last four gubernatorial elections, I look forward to ’fair’ maps that would increase our Republican representation in Congress to two or even three seats,” Mr. Harris said in a statement.
“But the commission is made up of four Democrats elected as Democrats, and only one ’Republican’ who was actually elected on a nonpartisan ballot. Even with Senate President Bill Ferguson on the commission, this commission was obviously rigged from the start,” he said.
States typically redraw their congressional maps when the census is taken every 10 years.
But President Trump pushed Texas to redraw its map in order to bolster the Republicans’ narrow majority in the House, and fellow GOP-led states Missouri, Ohio and North Carolina followed suit. Indiana may do the same next month when the state considers a map that would scrub two Democratic seats from Congress.
The nine new seats Republicans created from their mid-decade redistricting prompted a counter from blue states.
California voters will decide in a referendum on Tuesday whether they approve of a new map that would likely add five more Democratic seats to the House.
House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, New York Democrat, urged Maryland to take up the cause in hopes of eliminating Mr. Harris’ seat.
Mr. Ferguson, the state’s Senate President, is the only one opposed to the measure. Ms. Jones and Ms. Alsobrooks are heavily in favor of redistricting.
“We have a president that treats our democracy with utter contempt. We have a Republican Party that is trying to rig the rules in response to their terrible polling,” Ms. Alsobrooks said in the statement. “Let me be clear: Maryland deserves a fair map that represents the will of the people. That’s why I’m proud to chair this commission. Our democracy depends on all of us standing up in this moment.”
