Md. House of Delegates sets target dates for summer special session
Legislation regarding redistricting, special elections could be considered
By Bryan P. Sears - Maryland Matters
June 22, 2026 1:30 p.m. | Updated: June 22, 2026 12:34 p.m.
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Members of the House of Delegates are being asked to consider two windows for a special session that could consider two possible amendments to the Maryland Constitution.
House Speaker Joseline Peña-Melnyk, in a June 16 letter to House members, asked them to consider a week in mid-July and a week in early August for a possible return to consider a bill related to midcycle congressional redistricting.
In her letter, the speaker noted two bills: one amending the constitution to clarify how congressional districts may be drawn and a second that would establish a special election process for filling some vacancies in the Maryland House and Senate. Both were the subject of a bill that ultimately died as the General Assembly ended its 2026 legislative session in April.
“Since the close of session, recent developments have prompted leadership to evaluate whether additional legislative action may be necessary,” Peña-Melnyk wrote in the letter. “As a result, Senate President [Bill] Ferguson and I will meet following the primary election to discuss whether the circumstances warrant convening a special session.”
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The letter, obtained by Maryland Matters, was authenticated by a spokesperson for Peña-Melnyk.
It stressed that “no decision has been made” regarding a special session. But Peña-Melnyk asks delegates to “reserve July 16-22 and July 30-Aug. 5 … should your attendance in Annapolis be required.”
The speaker said there is a preference for the earlier July window.
“I do not anticipate that it would extend beyond a couple of days,” she writes.
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Any amendment to the state constitution would have to be approve by voters in November. In order to be on that ballot, the change would need to be passed by Aug. 4.
Approval of the change could remove the hurdles that hindered passage of bills that would have allowed for congressional redistrict this year. If approved, the legislature could take up new maps as early as the 2027 session and have them in place for the 2028 presidential election cycle.
Ferguson, the Senate leader, had opposed midcycle congressional redistricting and steered a House redistricting bill into his chamber’s Rules Committee to block it.
The House later tacked related legislation onto a bill sponsored by Sen. Cheryl C. Kagan (D-Montgomery) that would have established a process for filling legislative vacancies through a special election.
The House-added language was meant to address a 2022 decision by Judge Lynne Battaglia. The novel ruling struck down a 2021 congressional map citing language in the Maryland Constitution requiring districts be compact, contiguous and mindful of jurisdictional and geographic boundaries and features. Before that ruling, the compact and contiguous language had always been interpreted to only apply to General Assembly districts.
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Battaglia’s decision did not set a precedent but it also was not appealed. Instead, Democratic leaders and then-Gov. Larry Hogan (R) drew a compromise map that included seven Democratic-leaning congressional districts and one Republican, the 1st held by Rep. Andy Harris.
Some Democrats pushed to get rid of the Harris district as part of the state’s response to a hyperpartisan national redistricting effort that aims to determine which party will control the House after this fall’s elections. But Ferguson cited concerns about the Battaglia ruling, and the possibility of renewed challenges to the compromise map as his justifications for opposing a new map that would eliminate the last Republican-majority district.
The House attempted to undercut Ferguson’s concerns by amending the Kagan bill. But Ferguson blocked that bill too, seeing it as a “proxy” vote on redistricting and a concern that the bill would open the door to a lengthy debate that could slow down passage of other bills and include a floor fight over amendments that included new maps.
But Ferguson has had a change of heart since the end of session.
Since then, a primary election in Indiana cost five Republican state legislators their seats because of their opposition to midcycle congressional redistricting. When a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in May neutered racial protections of the landmark Voting Rights Act, Ferguson was pushed to publicly acknowledge he was considering a return to Annapolis this year. He first made those remarks in May, after receiving the endorsement of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.
But Ferguson has said he will not consider a congressional map during a special session, something Gov. Wes Moore wants and for which he renewed his call a swing through Western Maryland in late May.
Maryland Matters is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Maryland Matters maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Steve Crane for questions: editor@marylandmatters.org.
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Originally published at Bethesdamagazine