Last week Maryland voters decided to amend their state constitution in order to draw Representative Andy Harris out of Congress.
by David Shephard, ©2026
(Nov. 11, 2026) — Up until now, at least, Maryland’s Constitution has required that their Legislative and Congressional districts be geographically contiguous, compact, and made up of equal population. The third part, equal population, is also required by the U.S. Constitution. But sadly, for the Democrats who run the Free State, two of these characteristics, compact and contiguous, has made it impossible for them to draw out the lone Republican member of Congress, Andy Harris, who represents the 1st district. Maryland’s Congressional delegation is made up of Harris and 7 Democrats. For partisan Democrats even one Republican is one too many.
Democrats have tried before to redraw the 1st Congressional District in order to defeat Harris but have failed. In 2022, a judge threw out the State’s redistricting plan, which redrew the district, on the grounds that it was not compact and contiguous.
Maryland is a very blue state. Republicans, however, have some strength in Western Maryland, probably enough to elect a Republican to Congress, but Democrats can dilute their strength by drawing district lines to break up Western Maryland and include it in with Baltimore and Montgomery County-based districts. But when it comes to the Republican-leaning 1st district, it’s a harder nut to crack.
The first Congressional district covers Maryland’s Eastern Shore; it is full of good Republicans. The Chesapeake Bay separates the Eastern Shore from the rest of Maryland, so it is hard to silence them through redistricting. Democrats have trouble drawing district lines across the Chesapeake Bay and being in compliance with the compact and contiguous requirement. So, Maryland Democrats came up with an idea. They will amend the State Constitution, decided with a Yes vote on Question 3, which will allow them to get around the current constitutional requirements, which includes compact districts.
Democrats, such as Governor Wes Moore and Obama, have tried to sell Question 3 as a way of providing Maryland with an “equal footing with other states,” which means Maryland will be able to aggressively gerrymander like Texas and other states.
Question 3 is impossibly confusing, which is by design:
“FOR the purpose of clarifying that certain requirements apply only to districts for the election of members of the Senate of Maryland and the House of Delegates; authorizing the General Assembly to grant original jurisdiction to the Supreme Court of Maryland to review the congressional districting plan of the State; and providing that nothing in the Maryland Constitution provides applicable criteria for the boundaries of a congressional districting plan.”
Let me try to decipher. The “certain requirements” they are referring to, such as contiguous, compact districts, will only apply to the Senate of Maryland and the House of Delegates, not to the Congressional districts, which Andy Harris is part of. And second, this amendment cuts out the lower courts by limiting legal action to the State Supreme Court, which may or may not get to review the map, depending on whether the Legislature decides next year to give them authorization.
It seems remarkable that the people of a State would amend the Constitution simply to get rid of one person. And actually, even worse than that. It seeks to dilute the will of the people on the Eastern Shore. Why not let them remain together and pick the member that they want to send to Washington? It is beyond partisanship; it is actually uncivil. Democrats claim to believe in democracy, but that requires opposing views. Democrats want power, which includes eliminating the opposition. Why do Maryland Democrats hate Andy Harris? Because he disagrees with them.
I am not in Maryland, but I did see some of the Maryland media’s coverage of the campaign. One of the Baltimore TV stations interviewed a woman, a black woman, who described herself as a Democrat. She acknowledged that she didn’t understand the ballot question, but she trusted Obama and Moore, who were encouraging a Yes vote as being good for democracy. She said that she voted Yes despite not fully understanding the text of the amendment, saying that it probably would advance the “greater good.”
In some ways, I suppose, Harris should be flattered that the powers that run his State, including a former President, would go to the trouble of amending the State constitution just to get rid of him. I know of no similar case.
The amendment passed, and in 2027 the Maryland General Assembly will be able to redraw the 1st district in an effort to defeat Harris at the next available opportunity, which will come in 2028.
David Shephard is a native and very proud Virginian. Raised in Fairfax County, David graduated from George Mason University and majored in Government and Politics. He spent decades in politics, campaign consulting, raising money and lobbying. He is also a longtime conservative blogger writing for numerous blogs. He is also the host of “The Virginia Gentleman Podcast.”
David is the author of Elections Have Consequences, A Cautionary Tale, and his latest book, Norton’s Choice: An Inside Politics Exposé.
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