A new survey shows that fewer than one-third of Maryland residents consider redrawing congressional districts a high priority, even as Gov. Wes Moore and national Democrats press for new maps that could eliminate the state’s lone GOP-held seat. Lawmakers are set to convene in a special session focused on House leadership and other matters, with Democratic leaders saying redistricting will not be on the agenda.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore has for months urged state lawmakers to redraw the state’s congressional map in a way that could give Democrats control of all eight U.S. House seats, according to reporting by Politico. Democrats currently hold seven of Maryland’s eight congressional districts, with Republicans controlling a single seat.
A recent survey by the University of Maryland, Baltimore County’s Institute of Politics and Public Policy indicates limited public enthusiasm for making redistricting a top concern. According to that poll, conducted Dec. 2–6 among 801 adults in the state, 27 percent of respondents said redrawing congressional districts was a high priority.
By contrast, large majorities of respondents identified other issues as more pressing, including the cost of health care, the quality of K-12 education and reducing crime. Mileah Kromer, director of the UMBC institute, said in a statement that redistricting does not rank as a major concern for most Maryland residents, noting that other domestic and economic issues continue to dominate voters’ attention.
The survey also asked about the fairness of the current congressional map. Twenty-eight percent of respondents said the existing lines are fairly drawn, while 41 percent considered them unfair and roughly three in ten had no opinion. Views differed sharply by party. Among Democrats, more than a third described the lines as fair, while Republicans were far more likely to label the map unfair and to attribute that unfairness to Democratic advantage.
Attention to the redistricting debate was relatively high among partisans, with majorities of both Democrats and Republicans saying they were following the issue at least somewhat closely. But views on whether to proceed with a mid-decade map change diverged. In the poll, Democrats were split, with some supporting an immediate redraw, others opposing it, and a significant share saying they disliked the idea but saw it as necessary to protect their party’s representation in Congress. Republicans, by contrast, were broadly opposed to reopening the maps, and only a small minority said they viewed such a move as necessary.
The poll comes as a special legislative session begins Tuesday. But Senate President Bill Ferguson, a Baltimore Democrat, and House Speaker Pro Tem Dana Stein have said redistricting will not be taken up during the session, according to Politico. Instead, lawmakers plan to focus on electing a new House speaker following the resignation of Adrienne Jones and on other state business.
Moore and prominent national Democrats, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, have pressed Ferguson to allow votes on new maps that could help Democrats secure all eight seats in Maryland’s congressional delegation. Ferguson has raised concerns that an aggressive redraw could backfire if courts strike down the new lines, potentially jeopardizing the party’s existing seats, Politico reports.
Redistricting efforts in other states are feeding the debate in Annapolis. In Indiana, Republicans recently rejected an effort to overhaul that state’s congressional map, a move that has drawn attention from Maryland Democrats watching how GOP-controlled legislatures handle similar pressures. Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland has publicly urged his state’s lawmakers to keep pushing the issue, even as Ferguson and other legislative leaders keep it off the current special session agenda.
For now, Moore’s Redistricting Advisory Commission continues to hold public hearings and is expected to deliver recommendations to the governor and General Assembly in the coming weeks. That could set up another clash over congressional lines when the legislature returns for its regular session in January, even as polling suggests that many Marylanders remain more focused on day-to-day concerns like health care, schools and public safety than on how the state’s eight House districts are drawn.
