Maryland Democrat Governor Threatens Redistricting to Eliminate State’s Only GOP Seat [WATCH]

Maryland Governor Wes Moore said Sunday that the state could consider redrawing its congressional map in a way that could eliminate the seat held by Republican Rep. Andy Harris, the only Republican in Maryland’s eight-member U.S. House delegation.

Moore made the comments during an interview on CBS’s Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.

His remarks came amid growing Democratic threats to retaliate against Texas, where the state Senate approved new congressional district maps on Saturday following the end of the Texas House Democrats’ quorum break on August 18.

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“There is one seat here that is actually Republican and it is a seat held by Rep. Andy Harris. Are you considering trying to redraw lines in Maryland?” Brennan asked Moore.

“When I say all options are on the table, all options are on the table,” Moore replied.

The Texas redistricting plan could give Republicans as many as five additional seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, potentially strengthening the party’s hold in Congress ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

In response, Democratic leaders in other states have floated the idea of redrawing their own congressional maps to eliminate Republican-held districts.

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California Governor Gavin Newsom has proposed a new congressional map that would eliminate up to five Republican-held seats in his state.

At an August 14 press conference, Newsom referred to the proposal as the “Election Rigging Response Act.”

When pressed by Brennan about whether Maryland is “actively looking at it now,” Moore responded, “Yeah, and I think we have to.”

“You are?” Brennan followed up.

“Yes, and I think we have to,” Moore said.

“Because I think what has happened is this is what people hate with politics in the first place. The president of the United States, very similar to what he did in Georgia, where he called up a series of voter registrants and said I need you to find me more votes. We’re watching the same thing now, where he’s calling up legislatures around the country and saying I need you to find me more congressional districts.”

Democrats currently hold seven of Maryland’s eight U.S. House seats.

President Donald Trump won 34.1% of the statewide vote in 2020, while former Republican Governor Larry Hogan, now the GOP nominee for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring Democratic Senator Ben Cardin, received 42.8% of the vote in his race.

Moore argued that a lack of competitive districts nationwide is part of the motivation for potential changes.

“We have to be able to add a measure of fairness in the way it is applied and so, yes, all options need to be on the table in the state of Maryland,” he said.

If Moore were to move forward with such a plan, Maryland would become the second state, after Massachusetts, with no Republicans in its congressional delegation.

Despite Republicans winning statewide races in Massachusetts over the past two decades — including gubernatorial victories by Mitt Romney and Charlie Baker, and a U.S. Senate special election win by Scott Brown — no Republican has represented the state in the U.S. House since 1996.

Democrats have previously used redistricting to weaken Republican representation.

In Illinois, lawmakers enacted a congressional map ahead of the 2022 midterm elections that eliminated two Republican-held seats, including one represented by Adam Kinzinger.

Kinzinger, who became a vocal critic of President Trump following the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot, chose not to seek reelection.

Following the 2020 census, Illinois lost one House seat. After the new map took effect, the state’s congressional delegation shifted from 11 Democrats and seven Republicans to 14 Democrats and three Republicans after the 2022 midterm elections, according to Ballotpedia.

Moore’s comments signal that Maryland Democrats are weighing similar measures, which could reduce Republican representation further as both parties prepare for contentious midterm battles in 2026.