By Steve Crane | Editor-in-chief
“"It would be, I think, a big misread to make mapmaking the first priority of the legislature. The first priority of the legislature is going to be work on the top concern of Marylanders and that continues to be healthcare access and affordability.” - Maryland House Majority Leader David Moon (D-Montgomery), responding to the governor’s call to have congressional redistricting maps ready for the 2027 General Assembly, after voters’ decisive approval Tuesday of Question 3.
The election’s over. Now what? Not surprisingly, the people who were asking for your vote two days ago have some ideas of what to do with that vote moving forward. Welcome to post-election Thursday.
After investing significant capital, political and financial, in the passage of Question 3, Gov. Wes Moore wants to keep the push for redistricting moving. He’s calling for lawmakers to take up new congressional maps in the 2027 legislative session, but legislative leaders say they will probably take up other priorities first, like affordability, as Christine Condon reports.
The national blue wave that swept Democrats into the majority in both the House and the Senate will probably sweep some Maryland lawmakers into leadership positions in the next Congress. And Democrats from the state are already outlining their agendas for a Democratically controlled 120th Congress, which includes addressing affordability in checking President Donald Trump. Capital News Service’s Bella DeCrescenzo and Ashna Balroop report.
Those stories, plus the latest twist in a long-running Harford County feud that wound up before the Supreme Court of Maryland on Wednesday, are below to help calm your post-election jitters, along with other news of the week. Enjoy!
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) said Wednesday he wants the General Assembly to move forward on new congressional maps after the passage Wednesday of Question 3, Maryland's redistricting-focused ballot question. (Photo by Christine Condon/Maryland Matters)
By Christine Condon
Gov. Wes Moore (D) said Wednesday that he wants to see new congressional maps for Maryland after the General Assembly convenes in January and that he is "ready to engage" with lawmakers on the subject of redistricting.
The remarks came as part of the governor's victory lap Wednesday, the day after "historic" wins by Democrats in elections nationwide and Maryland voters' approval of Question 3, which loosens restrictions on redistricting in the state. Moore invested significant political capital on the question, whicpassed with 60% of the vote just weeks after polls showed that voters were skeptical.
Moore warned Wednesday that “Donald Trump is not done,” and said the state needs to be ready with a redistricting plan. But legislative leaders said that while they are ready to work on redistricting, issues like affordability and the budget are the priorities now, with House Speaker Joseline Peña-Melnyk (D-Prince George’s and Anne Arundel) saying the House had passed a redistricting plan before and will be ready again, “when it’s necessary.”
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-8th) with Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), left, and Montgomery County Executive-elect Will Jawando (D) at Takoma Park Middle School on the morning of Election Day, a good day for Democrats nationwide. (Photo by Capital News Service)
By Bella DeCrescenzo and Ashna Balroop
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-8th) is poised to become the next chair of the House Judiciary Committee, where he says he will lead investigations into President Donald Trump’s pardons, government contracting and collection of foreign government payments.
“That just sketches the surface of it because they have contaminated every aspect of the federal government, and we are going to shine a light on it,” Raskin said in an interview with Capital News Service on Oct. 21, a couple of weeks before Election Day. “We are going to expose it, counter it and try to stop it as quickly as possible.”
With the blue tsunami at the polls Tuesday that appears to have secured Democratic majorities in both the House and Senate, Maryland Democrats who were reelected to Congress will have more power to pursue their agendas. That includes healthcare and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits for Americans impacted by Trump and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
The term of Harford County Councilmember Aaron Penman (R) ends in a month, but the county is appealing a decision that let Penman, a sheriff's deputy, return to the panel. (File photo by Bryan. P. Sears/Maryland Matters)
By Bryan P. Sears
Aaron Penman's days as Harford County councilman are numbered, but that isn't stopping Harford County Executive Bob Cassilly from trying to reverse the ruling that restored his fellow Republican to the council this year.
The county Wednesday asked the Supreme Court of Maryland to overturn an April ruling by an Appellate Court of Maryland panel that reinstated Penman, almost two years after he was removed by a lower court that said he could not serve on the council while employed as a county sheriff's deputy.
Harford County Attorney Jefferson Blomquist argued the high court should rule on the issue even though Penman will only be on the court until Dec. 7, when the new council is sworn in. Penman did not run for reelection this year. "No, it does not become moot because to become moot, it has to be incapable of repetition," Blomquist said in response to justices' questions. "Clearly this is not a situation that's capable of repetition."
There is no indication when the court might rule.
IN OTHER NEWS
Thumbs down on data centers: In elections nationwide, voters overwhelmingly called for limits on data centers in their communities, with 33 ballot measures to restrict data centers either passed or leading in ongoing vote counts Tuesday night..
Man charged in connection with suspicious letters: An Oklahoma City man has been arrested on charges that he sent more than 700 threatening letters with a white powder to election officials, members of Congress, pollsters and media around the U.S.
Political notes: Montgomery County Executive-elect Will Jawando unveils a talent-heavy transition team, the Legislative Black Caucus convenes as it gets a new director, and advocates line up support for the Blueprint for Maryland's Future, in political notes.
MATTERS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED
Question 3 sails to approval: Question 3, the constitutional amendment that would change the way Maryland congressional districts, appeared headed to passage Tuesday, with 60% of voters supporting it in early returns, capping months of fighting on the issue.
More of Moore: Gov. Wes Moore won reelection easily Tuesday in a rematch against GOP challenger Dan Cox, while Comptroller Brooke Lierman and Attorney General Anthony Brown were also headed to reelection by comfortable margins.
Incumbents retuned to House: Rep. Andy Harris (R) held off a surprisingly tough challenge from Democrat Dan Scwhartz in the 1st District Tuesday, the closest House race in Maryland where the other seven congressional incumbents all cruised to reelection.
Little State House shuffling: Sen. Shaneka Henson (D) survived a bitter campaign that split the party, to become the first elected Black senator from Anne Arundel County, and Democrats may have picked up two seats in the House in legislative races.
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