Maryland Judge Stops Democrats From Erasing the Last Republican House District

Anne Arundel County Circuit Court Judge Robert J. Thompson on Wednesday blocked a Democratic-backed constitutional amendment from the November ballot that would have cleared the way for Maryland lawmakers to redraw the state’s congressional map and target the only Republican U.S. House seat. The ruling is stayed pending an immediate appeal to the Maryland Supreme Court. Ballot printing is scheduled to begin Sept. 3.

Democrats hold seven of Maryland’s eight House seats. The remaining district, the 1st, covers the Eastern Shore and is held by Rep. Andy Harris, chairman of the House Freedom Caucus. In August, Gov. Wes Moore called a two-day special session. The General Assembly passed HB 2100, which Moore signed Aug. 5. The measure would have asked voters whether to “clarify” that compactness and natural-boundary rules in the state constitution apply only to legislative districts, not congressional ones. That change would have let lawmakers draw districts across the Chesapeake Bay and reshape Harris’s seat for 2028. It was designed to get around a 2022 court decision that struck down an earlier Democratic map.

Thompson, appointed by former Republican Gov. Larry Hogan, found the enactment legally deficient. Earlier this year the same legislature passed, and Moore signed, a law setting a July 1 deadline for the secretary of state to certify summaries of statewide ballot questions. HB 2100 was introduced Aug. 3, after that deadline. “Because the legislature did not follow the very laws it enacted, the court finds the enactment of HB2100 to be legally deficient,” Thompson wrote. He also held that describing the amendment as a “clarification” was “intentionally misleading” and that the question bundled a second change—giving the state Supreme Court original jurisdiction over congressional-map lawsuits—in violation of the single-subject rule. “The court has no choice but to enjoin the board of elections from including ballot Question 3 on the general election ballot for November 3, 2026.”

The lawsuit was brought by the conservative Oversight Project and Republican lawmakers. Senate Minority Leader Steve Hershey called it a victory for voters who expect government to follow the constitution and the election laws it writes. Harris said Marylanders deserve representation, not a rule change to eliminate a seat Democrats cannot win at the ballot box. Moore’s spokesman said the administration respectfully disagrees and has already appealed. Senate President Bill Ferguson said he is confident the General Assembly acted within its authority.

The amendment would not have redrawn the map for this November. It would have unlocked a mid-decade rewrite for 2028. Thompson’s order does not decide the merits of compactness or partisan fairness. It holds that the process and the wording failed the rules the legislature itself imposed. The Maryland Supreme Court, with a Hogan-appointed majority, now decides whether Question 3 reaches voters before the printers start.