MARYLAND - The Governor's Redistricting Advisory Commission has voted to recommend a new congressional map concept to the Governor and the General Assembly.
The current congressional map for the state has the eastern shore in District 1 grouped with Cecil and Harford Counties.
The newly proposed map would instead group the eastern shore with portions of Anne Arundel and Howard Counties, which are predominantly Democrat.
Maryland currently only has one Republican-held seat, occupied by Rep. Andy Harris in District 1.
The state redistricting panel is comprised of five people, only one of which is Republican.
The chair of the panel, Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, said “At a moment when other states are moving aggressively to redraw maps, and when fundamental voting rights protections face renewed threats, Maryland has a responsibility to lead with urgency. Our goal is to ensure our congressional delegation reflects the will of the people, protects representation for historically underrepresented communities, and gives Marylanders a Congress that can serve as a real check on this President."
Maryland House Republicans issued the following statement:
“The Redistricting Commission’s vote today confirmed what we have been saying all along: that this Commission had nothing to do with fairness, nothing to do with the wants and needs of our citizens, and, quite frankly, nothing to do with Maryland,” said House Minority Leader Jason Buckel. “Instead, this Commission has everything to do with D.C. partisan politics and the desires of the Democratic National Committee. This Commission was merely a drawn-out political sham with a pre-determined outcome: to rid Maryland of any Republican representation in Congress and disenfranchise voters in Western Maryland and the Eastern Shore. Nothing drives this home more than their absurd end product.”
The new concept map will now fall on the General Assembly to make final tweaks and turn it into a bill to be voted on.