Rep. Andy Harris threatens lawsuit after Maryland House committee passes new congressional map

Maryland’s lone House Republican has one message for Gov. Wes Moore following the continued redistricting push: “See you in court, Wes!”

The Maryland House Rules and Executive Nominations Committee this week advanced a new congressional map to the House floor — one that forecasts a blue wave taking over all eight of the state’s congressional seats.

The full state House could vote on the new map as soon as this week, before the matter moves to the state Senate.

Rep. Andy Harris, the Republican whose district would be redrawn to include Democratic-leaning counties, described the hearing as a “sham” with a “pre-determined outcome.”

He said the current effort is not about fairness.

“It’s about advancing Wes Moore’s presidential aspirations. Hakeem Jeffries has given him the order, and he’s faithfully obeying.”

Mr. Moore, a Democrat, has added his state to the nationwide mid-decade redistricting wars ahead of his year’s midterm elections. The rush to redraw congressional districts, which was kicked off last year in Texas at the urging of President Trump, seeks to tilt the advantage in the fight for the narrowly divided House.

Mr. Moore, who is also running for reelection this year, has urged Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson to bring the new map up for a vote.

The governor was also on Capitol Hill last week for a private meeting with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, New York Democrat.

When reporters asked him about concerns that Maryland’s redistricting effort is being coaxed by national Democrats, Mr. Moore said he “does not take instructions from party bosses.”

Testifying before the committee approved the map, the governor framed the redistricting plan as “the will of the people” in response to Mr. Trump’s push for redistricting in Republican-run states.

Some of the state’s Democratic officials have criticized the plan, including Mr. Ferguson.

He called the mid-decade redistricting effort “objectively unconstitutional,” a view that legal experts agree with.

“Ultimately, a flawed process has delivered a flawed product,” Mr. Ferguson said after the redistricting commission voted 3-2 in favor of the map last week.

Maryland House Rules and Executive Nominations Committee, when approving the new map Tuesday, discussed but did not vote on a Republican-backed bill that would alter the requirements for congressional redistricting.

The Democrats’ map mirrors one that was pushed in 2022, which was found unconstitutional in response to a Republican-led lawsuit.

Mr. Harris, who is chairman of the hardline conservative House Freedom Caucus, said that if the current proposed map makes it through his state’s General Assembly, “then another lawsuit will be filed — challenging not only the proposed map but the current partisan gerrymandered map that was never subjected to a court evaluation in 2022.”