Legislative Leaders Say They've Drawn A New Congressional Plan, Set Hearing For Tuesday

By Bennett Leckrone, Maryland Matters

March 28, 2022

Legislative leaders said Monday that they drew a congressional map over the weekend after a judge tossed out their original proposal Friday.

The new map will be introduced and heard at a joint hearing of the state Senate and House of Delegates at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday morning, according to a press release from House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones (D-Baltimore County) and Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City). Details about the map weren’t immediately available Monday afternoon.

The new map was drawn after Senior Judge Lynne A. Battaglia found after a trial in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court that the original congressional map was an “extreme partisan gerrymander” and violated the Maryland Constitution and Declaration of Rights.

That map, enacted by lawmakers during a December special session, features a 1st District that would’ve crossed the Chesapeake Bay Bridge to include parts of Anne Arundel County with the Eastern Shore, resulting in a much more competitive district for Democrats in addition to seven solidly Democratic seats. That district is currently represented by Maryland’s lone congressional Republican, U.S. Rep. Andrew P. Harris.

Battaglia ordered lawmakers to submit a new map that complies with the state constitution by Wednesday, and set a hearing on the new map for 9:00 a.m. on Friday.

Battaglia wrote in her memorandum opinion and order the map violated Article III, Section 4 of the Maryland Constitution, a provision that has historically been interpreted to apply to legislative districts and provides that “each legislative district shall consist of adjoining territory, be compact in form and of substantial equal population” and respect natural and political boundaries.

The statement from legislative leaders indicates the Office of the Attorney General will pursue an appeal even as lawmakers work to comply with Battaglia’s order.

“The legislation is contingent on the loss of an appeal and is expected to be on the Governor’s desk this week,” the joint statement from Jones and Ferguson reads. “However, we worked expeditiously to ensure that the redistricting process was not further delayed and that the map presented reflects the new requirements as set forth by Judge Battaglia.”

In a letter to Jones on Monday, Republican legislative leaders called for the adoption of the congressional plan drawn up by the Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission, a panel convened by Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R). That panel included three Republicans, three Democrats and three unaffiliated voters, and its congressional plan received high marks from the Princeton Gerrymandering Project for compactness and partisan fairness.

“Should the General Assembly decide to reject the Citizen’s Map and again create its own map, it is critical that this map be drawn with the utmost transparency,” House Majority Leader Jason C. Buckel (R-Allegany) and Minority Whip Haven N. Shoemaker Jr. (R-Carroll) wrote. “Members of the Minority Party must present during its creation — not just handed a map of unknown origin after it is drawn.”

A spokesperson for Hogan said Jones and Ferguson hadn’t reached out during the map redrawing, and Buckel said before Monday’s floor session that he hadn’t seen the map as of 2 p.m.

During the floor session, House Majority Leader Eric G. Luedtke (D-Montgomery) said the bill would be introduced in the Senate later in the evening in time for Tuesday morning’s joint hearing.

Del. Matthew Morgan (R-St. Mary’s) unsuccessfully challenged that process on the House floor.

As to how the General Assembly will get the new congressional map across the finish line by Battaglia’s deadline, Luedtke said lawmakers will have to “hustle.”

The map struck down by Battaglia was originally drafted by the Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission, a panel convened by Jones and Ferguson. Jones and Ferguson were both members of that commission, alongside two other Democratic legislative leaders and two Republican legislative leaders.

Battaglia, a former Court of Appeals judge, also found that the map violates Articles 7, 24 and 40 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights. Those provisions provide that elections be “free and frequent,” for equal protection and free speech respectively.

The court challenges to local, state and congressional redistricting plans have already resulted in the Court of Appeals pushing back the primary election from June 28 to July 19.

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