Maryland residents bristle at Wes Moore’s redistricting push

As President Donald Trump’s mid-decade gerrymandering push in Republican states hit a roadblock in Indiana last week, Democrats looking to make up ground in blue states got some unwelcome news: Fewer than one-third of Maryland residents view redrawing the state’s congressional lines as a “high” priority, per a survey out Monday.

Just 27 percent polled by the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, labeled redistricting a top issue, trailing far behind the cost of health care (77 percent), the quality of K-12 education (75 percent) and reducing crime (73 percent).

The survey comes as lawmakers in the Old Line State grapple over whether to push forward an effort to redraw congressional lines to give Democrats a chance to flip the state’s lone Republican-held seat. Maryland lawmakers are slated to convene for a special legislative session on Tuesday, though they made clear redistricting will not be on the agenda.

A similar push Trump championed in Indiana would have eliminated up to two Democratic-held seats; it was soundly rejected by that state’s Republican-led state Senate last week in a sharp rebuke of the president by members of his own party. Their opposition also relieved pressure mounting in some blue states, including Maryland, for state lawmakers to forge ahead with their gerrymandering counteroffensive.

For several months, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, a likely 2028 Democratic presidential hopeful, has been urging lawmakers to consider redesigning the state’s maps, but has been stymied by state Senate President Bill Ferguson, a fellow Democrat who thinks the move could jeopardize the strength of Maryland Democrats’ congressional dominance. Democrats control seven of the state’s eight congressional seats.

“This is not a huge priority for Maryland voters,” Mileah Kromer, the director of the university's Institute of Politics, which conducted the survey, said. “Perhaps one of the reasons it hasn't really caught on as a major priority is because over the last year, Maryland voters continue to express concerns about the economic situation in the state.”

Earlier this year, state lawmakers passed measures raising taxes and fees by $1.6 billion — and are bracing for lingering negative repercussions from the longest federal government shutdown in U.S. history.

The survey of 801 Maryland adults, the majority of whom were registered voters, found 28 percent of respondents said the Maryland congressional lines were drawn fairly, compared to 41 percent who said they were drawn unfairly. Twenty-nine percent did not have an opinion.

When broken down by party affiliation, responses show variance in opinion over how Maryland’s maps are currently drawn and whether mid-decade redistricting should be taken up by the state legislature ahead of the 2026 midterms, with control of Congress at stake.

Among Democrats, 37 percent said the state’s congressional maps are drawn fairly. And among the majority who believe otherwise, 18 percent said the lines favor Democrats and 10 percent said they favor Republicans.

Just 17 percent of Republicans surveyed said Maryland’s congressional lines are drawn fairly. Among those who view the state’s maps as unfair, 63 percent said the lines favor Democrats, while just 3 percent contend they favor Republicans.

While high numbers of both parties said they were paying at least some attention to the redistricting debate — 61 percent of Democrats; 71 percent of Republicans — their views of what to do about it also broke along party lines.

Maryland Democrats’ views of mid-cycle redistricting showed that nearly an equal percentage said they don’t like it and it should not be done — 25 percent — compared to 28 percent who said they don’t like it but believe it is necessary. Just 6 percent of Democrats support it but think it’s the wrong thing to do, compared to 32 percent who said they like it and mid-decade redistricting should be done.

Among Republicans, 67 percent said they don’t like it and mid-decade redistricting should not be done compared to 9 percent who consider it necessary. Fewer than 10 percent of Maryland Republicans said they like it, but it’s the wrong thing to do or that they like it and lawmakers should move forward with it.

The poll was funded by the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences at the university. It was conducted between Dec. 2 and 6 and has a 3.5 percent margin of error.