DALLAS — Maryland Republican state lawmakers attending the State Freedom Caucus Network summit challenged Maryland Democrats to redraw their state’s congressional map.
Maryland Democrats, who hold a supermajority in the state Legislature and the governor’s mansion, threatened to redistrict the congressional map and eliminate the Old Line State’s only Republican lawmaker, Rep. Andy Harris, chairman of the House Freedom Caucus.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore told Baltimore’s WBAL News Radio on Thursday the state is considering all angles.
“I’ve been very clear that in the state of Maryland, all options are on the table about how we respond, but the fact that we even have to have this conversation in the first place because of what Washington is now continuing to inspire all over the country, it’s just deeply unfortunate,” Mr. Moore said.
Maryland Freedom Caucus members say Democrats risk turning their deep blue districts into swing seats if they target Mr. Harris in retaliation for Missouri’s GOP-controlled legislature’s recent move to redraw its congressional map to eliminate the seat belonging to Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, a Democrat.
Maryland Republican state Delegate Ryan Nawrocki, whip to his state Freedom Caucus, told The Washington Times that he can’t imagine two conservative counties like Harford and Cecil being combined into the 2nd Congressional District.
The outcome, he said, would be something that Democratic Reps. Johnny Olszewski and April McClain Delaney wouldn’t want.
“Congresswoman Delaney’s district, for instance, becomes even more potentially competitive under those kinds of circumstances,” Mr. Nawrocki said. “So we may actually enjoy having a redistricting conversation where we significantly expand the amount of Republicans in the Maryland delegation to Congress.”
Maryland had four Republicans and four Democratic congressional lawmakers about two decades ago, and the Maryland GOP attributes its diminishing numbers to Democratic gerrymandering.
Maryland Republican Delegate Kathy Szeliga, vice chair of the state’s Freedom Caucus, said, “It’s really hard to take the redistricting threat seriously. [The Democrats] got it to seven Democrats and one Republican, and reducing that to zero Republicans would be very difficult for them. If that’s something they want to bring, bring it on.”
“The last time they did redistricting,” she said, “I was part of two lawsuits, and the one that we were successful in is actually Szeliga vs. Lamone.”
That 2021-22 case involved an attempt to eliminate Mr. Harris’ seat, and the Anne Arundel County Circuit Court struck down the congressional plan as an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander.
“We brought in that lawsuit, the congressional map they drew, to the Maryland Supreme Court, and the Democrats were forced to redraw it, so we’ve been successful, and we’ll just do it again,” Ms. Szeliga said.
Regarding the Missouri issue, state Freedom Caucus Director Tim Jones stated that final passage of the new map out of the House is expected on Monday or Tuesday.
Correction: A previous version of this story misidentified Rep. April McClain Delaney.
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.
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