Posted on 11/05/25
| News Source: Maryland Matters
Annapolis, MD - Nov. 5, 2025 - A Republican lawmaker who successfully challenged redrawn congressional districts three years ago said she is preparing to go back to court if Gov. Wes Moore and other Democrats produce a new set of districts aimed at eliminating the state’s only Republican-held seat.
“This just seems like Kabuki theater,” Del. Kathy Szeliga (R-Baltimore County) said of the governor’s claims that he wants fair congressional districts. “It’s very theatrical, big on theatrics and short on substantial, genuine efforts to serve the citizens of the state of Maryland.”
Moore Tuesday announced the formation of a five-member redistricting advisory commission, chaired by Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), to recommend “fair and representative” congressional district maps. Even as he was insisting to reporters that the effort is about ensuring fair districts, however, Moore acknowledged that the push is part of a larger effort to counter mid-cycle hyper-partisan redistricting in Republican-controlled states.
Moore’s redistricting panel is expected to lead to an anticipated special session — perhaps before the end of the year. Maryland is expected to join a national scrum over which party controls the House of Representatives after the 2026 midterm elections.
Del. Kathy Szeliga (R-Baltimore County). (File photo by Danielle E. Gaines/Maryland Matters)
The state’s eight current congressional districts were passed after Szeliga successfully filed suit against a legislative redistricting plan in 2022.
Senior Judge Lynne A. Battaglia struck the legislative plan down, calling it “extreme partisan gerrymandering.” Her ruling linked partisan map-making to potential violations of Maryland’s Declaration of Rights.
Democratic lawmakers soon after that ruling crafted the current maps.
The governor said Tuesday that he is concerned that the maps are not fair.
“I would argue that if you’re looking at the maps that we have right now, that were put together in days, that cut through neighborhoods, that cut through jurisdictions, that I would argue that I’m not sure if these maps actually reflect that,” Moore said. “And so, by going through that process of simply saying, ‘Do we have fair maps?’ I think that’s democracy, and I think that’s fair.”
Those maps are as old as Moore’s nearly three-year career as an elected official. He did not explicitly explain when he became concerned about the fairness of maps the super-majority Democratic legislature drew in place of those offered by then Gov. Larry Hogan (R).
But in comments to reporters Tuesday, Moore himself linked Maryland redistricting to a national skirmish in which states controlled by Republicans and Democrats are trying to slip congressional seats into the hands of their own party using mid-decade redistricting.
Moore said President Donald Trump “cannot just sit there and call certain Republican states and say, ‘Hey, I want you all to find me a congressman here, and find me a congressman there,’ and then expect other states to just simply sit on their hands,” Moore said.
He said that even though states like Maryland redistricted recently, they cannot stand pat “when we are watching this type of attack on our democracy.”
“When we are watching the president of the United States rip up the rules because he knows the only way he can win elections is by actually changing the rules, because you’re not going to win elections on your policies. Your policies are deeply unpopular. So, what do you do? You change the rules,” Moore said of Trump. “And so, the only point that I have, and I have long felt this, and I’m not moving on, is if you have other states that are deciding whether or not they have fair maps, then so will Maryland.”
Moore and other Maryland Democratic leaders face heightened pressure from their own party at the national level.
U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, House Democratic leader, flanked by Reps. Katherine Clark and Pete Aguilar. (File photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) has called Moore to discuss the issue. Moore declined to characterize the discussions, calling them private conversations. But Jeffries, in public statements, has urged Maryland to answer the party’s call to redistrict.
Szeliga and other Republicans criticized Moore’s definition of fairness.
“You need a new dictionary to define fair,” Szeliga said.
In Maryland, registered Democrats outnumber Republicans about 2-1. The number of unaffiliated voters is nearly that of Republicans.
Despite that, the state’s eight congressional districts have shifted from an even four-four split 23 years ago to Democrats controlling seven of eight seats today.
Senate Minority Leader Stephen S. Hershey Jr. (R-Upper Shore) said Moore’s committee aims to “wipe out the Republican Party” in the state.
“Instead of restoring integrity to the process, Governor Moore has chosen to rig the system,” Hershey said in a statement. “This is a partisan power grab disguised as reform, designed to silence dissent and cement one-party rule in Maryland.”
Moore dismissed those like Hershey who believe a fair map might include two or potentially three districts where Republicans could win a seat.
“Part of the reason that I pulled together this bipartisan commission is because I want this bipartisan group of leaders to be able to have conversations with people of our state to determine whether or not we have fair maps within the state of Maryland,” Moore said. “So, for anyone who said they would have a problem with going to the people to determine whether it’s a fair map, I guess my only answer is, ‘What’s your issue with democracy?'”
Alsobrooks will lead the five-member panel that includes former Attorney General Brian Frosh and Cumberland Mayor Ray Morriss, all appointed by Moore. The panel will also include the House speaker and Senate president, or their designees.
House Minority Leader Jason C. Buckel (R-Allegany) said Morriss, whose city is in Buckel’s district, is in a politically difficult position.
“The lone nominal Republican, after a fruitless search by the Moore Administration to persuade others to participate in this farce, must seriously consider his involvement and recognize that he will obviously be asked to either aid and abet the political crime of stealing representation from Republican citizens, or be a meaningless ‘nay’ vote with little to no real input,” Buckel said in a joint statement with House Minority Whip Del. Jesse T. Pippy (R-Frederick).
“We urged other Republicans and fair-minded leaders not to participate in this charade,” the pair said in the statement. “As it stands, the commission allegedly seeking ‘fair’ congressional districts is made up of four elected Democrats from the Baltimore/DC area, including a sitting US Senator beholden to protecting her party, the most nakedly partisan Attorney General Maryland has perhaps ever seen, and legislative representatives of the Democratic Party who have alternatively already pledged their support for raw gerrymandering for political advantage from the House and conversely committed not to do so in the Senate.”
House Speaker Adrienne Jones (D-Baltimore County) named Del. C.T. Wilson (D-Charles) to the panel Tuesday. Wilson is chair of the House Economic Matters Committee.
“I know Chairman Wilson will listen to all perspectives as the Commission hosts public hearings around the State to ensure fair congressional maps,” Jones said in a statement. “Given his representation of a growing region in Charles County, he understands the importance of fair representation and the need to get it right.”
Senate President Bill Ferguson has yet to announce if he will sit on the panel or assign another senator. In a letter last week, Ferguso said that he and the majority of the 34-member Democratic Caucus oppose mid-cycle redistricting. A mid-cycle redistricting bill sent to the Senate is seen as a nonstarter.
Moore and Ferguson’s office confirmed the pair are scheduled to meet over dinner later this week.
“I respect his opinion,” Moore said of Ferguson. “We have a very fundamental disagreement on this. I think this moment requires urgency, and I think this moment requires us to really think critically and make sure that the people’s voices can be heard in a very practical and legal way.”
Ferguson did not meet with reporters Tuesday. A spokesperson, when asked about Moore’s comments earlier in the day, referred a reporter to a statement issued by Ferguson that same morning. In it, Ferguson called for public meetings in all eight districts, among other things.
“Marylanders’ voices remain central to this process, and these public meetings will provide an opportunity for voters to hear about the unique legal barriers in Maryland – barriers that could unintentionally give Donald Trump another one or two of Maryland’s congressional seats should this effort backfire in our courts,” Ferguson said.
“The Senate Democratic Caucus understands that this is an unbalanced risk reward calculation. It is why there is overwhelming concern about Maryland joining the mid-cycle redistricting wars rather than focusing on tangible, immediate policies to protect our State from this lawless Trump Administration,” his statement said.
A schedule for meetings of the commission has not been announced. But Moore told reporters “the commission’s work has already commenced.”
He said he expected the panel would use technology to “hear the voice of the people in public ways” leaving open the door to virtual meetings or some sort of hybrid approach combined with in-person testimony.
Expectations among lawmakers in the House and Senate is that Moore’s panel could lead to a special session before the end of the year. Many are looking to the first week of December.
The governor on Tuesday would not commit to a special session nor rule it out.
“There is no state that has been more exposed to the cruelty of the Trump administration than the state of Maryland,” Moore said. “I will use any and all tools at my disposal to make sure that my people are protected all across the state of Maryland, and that includes I will never take the option of calling a special session, which is my right as the governor, I will never take that option off the table.”
Meanwhile, Szeliga said she is preparing for the possibility of new maps. She and U.S. Rep. Andy Harris (R-1st) have already talked to the legal team that represented her in 2022.
“We haven’t signed any papers, but we’ve got it teed up to go right back to the Supreme Court” of Maryland, she said.