Judge Strikes Down Redistricting Ballot Question, Stays Ruling Pending Supreme Court Appeal
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews ANNAPOLIS — An Anne Arundel County Circuit Court judge ruled Wednesday that Maryland...
Elections & Democracy
The First Lawsuit Went Dark. A Second One — Led by a Local GOP Official — Is Wide Open.
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews The Republican lawsuit challenging Maryland's redistricting ballot question — filed late...
Is the Redistricting Lawsuit Just a Publicity Stunt? Here’s What the Record Actually Shows
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews A common response to this week's lawsuit against Maryland's redistricting amendment is that...
Power Over People: How Annapolis Rewrote the Rules — and What It Ignored to Do It
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews The Maryland General Assembly closed its three-day special session Tuesday night having...
The Senate Passed It 32-13. Republicans Are Already Talking About Court.
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews Maryland's Senate voted 32-13 Tuesday to pass the congressional redistricting...
The House Passed It 96-38. Bouchat’s Bill Never Got a Hearing.
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews The Maryland House of Delegates voted 96-38 Tuesday to pass House Bill 2100, sending the...
Day One: The Session Convenes, the Math Gets Real, and a Democrat Breaks Ranks
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews The General Assembly gaveled in at 10 a.m. Monday for the Aug. 3-5 special session, and by...
Two Bills. One Week. Opposite Visions of Who Draws Maryland’s Maps
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews Senate Bill 2100 asks Maryland voters to strip constitutional limits off how the General...
The Amendment Written to Undo a Judge’s Ruling
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews When the Maryland General Assembly convenes at noon Monday for a three-day special session,...
The GOP Says This Bill Proves Hypocrisy. The Bill Itself Tells a Messier Story.
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews The Maryland Republican Party posted the text of House Bill 2101 on July 30 with a direct...
Here’s What Senate Bill 2100 Actually Does — And Why It’s Drafted Like a Legal Shield
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews Maryland's special session doesn't convene until Aug. 3, but the bill text and hearing...
Maryland Democrats Answer DHS With a Lawsuit — While a Small Town Sits on a Records Request Nine Months Overdue
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews When Republican Del. Ryan Nawrocki told Fox45 two weeks ago that Maryland "will not comply"...
A Government Chosen By 5 Percent Is Taxing The Other 95
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews Montgomery County's property tax bills have been landing in mailboxes for two weeks, and...
Maryland Democrats Already Ran This Play — Just One Level Down the Ballot
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews Senate President Bill Ferguson and House Speaker Joseline Peña-Melnyk say the special...
Bouchat Fires Off at Leadership as the Redistricting Session He Predicted Finally Arrives
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews — Part of the Bouchat Paradox series Christopher Eric Bouchat has spent three legislative...
Maryland Sets Aug. 3-5 Special Session on Redistricting — But the Dates Conflict with the State’s Own Ballot Deadline
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews ANNAPOLIS — Maryland's General Assembly will return to Annapolis Aug. 3-5 for a special...
Supreme Court Upholds Mail-In Ballot Grace Periods — Maryland’s Rules Survive the Challenge
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that states may continue counting mail-in ballots that...
Maryland Has a Million Voters With No Primary. Here’s How to Fix That.
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews Maryland held a primary election on June 23. Roughly one million Marylanders did not get to...
The Firewall Fell Overnight
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews The Maryland Senate's redistricting firewall held for six months. It lasted about eighteen...
The Senate’s No. 2 Is Gone — and Ferguson Is on His Own
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews Amar Mukunda, a 33-year-old engineer and Army Reserve combat veteran who had never held...
Maryland Taxpayers Fund the Primary System — But Only for Two Parties
By MDBayNews Staff Every Maryland voter pays for the June 23 primary. Only voters registered with the Democratic or...
MARYLAND DEMOCRATS PLAN POST-PRIMARY SPECIAL SESSION TO REDRAW CONGRESSIONAL MAP
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews With Maryland's primary election two days away, the state's top Democrats are preparing to...
Ferguson Reverses on Redistricting — After Spending a Year Blocking It
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson spent the better part of a year standing in the way...
SCOTUS Lets Virginia’s Redistricting Map Die — And Maryland Democrats Should Take Note
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews The U.S. Supreme Court closed the last exit ramp for Virginia Democrats on Thursday,...
High Court’s VRA Ruling Exposes Maryland’s Racial Gerrymander — and Democrats’ Hubris
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews A landmark Supreme Court ruling handed down Wednesday could reshape Maryland's political...
A Forum for Some, Silence for Others: Poolesville “Fair Access” Event Raises Questions About Access and Fairness
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews In Montgomery County, political forums are nothing new—especially during a competitive...
One-Party State: Maryland Democrats Now Running Candidates Everywhere — and That’s the Problem
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews For the first time in more than half a century, Maryland Democrats are celebrating what...
The Annapolis Money Machine: How Maryland Campaign Cash Circulates Among Political Insiders
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews Maryland politicians like to talk about transparency, accountability, and reform. But if...
44% of Maryland Legislative Races Lack Two-Party Competition After Filing Deadline
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews The numbers are in — and they are hard to ignore. According to newly compiled...
Maryland’s Redistricting Pressure Cooker: Closed-Door Politics and the 50-Day Clock
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews Annapolis is no stranger to hardball politics. But when members of Maryland’s...
Supermajority in Chaos: Maryland Democrats Riven by Democratic Socialist Faction — Republicans and Independents Could Be the Real Winners
By MDBayNews Staff While Maryland Republicans grapple with their own public infighting, the state’s dominant Democratic...
A Party at War With Itself: Maryland Republicans Face a Defining Crossroads
By MDBayNews Staff Maryland Republicans don’t have the luxury of civil war. Yet that is precisely what appears to be...
Can Maryland Fix Its One-Party Democracy? A Reform Roadmap for Real Competition
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews Maryland’s one-party dominance is not new. Democrats have controlled the General Assembly...
Safe Seats, Silent Voters: What Maryland’s One-Party Rule Means for Democracy
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews In a state where one party controls virtually every lever of power, what does it say about...
Filing Clock Ticking: Does the Deadline Cripple Gov. Moore’s Redistricting Push?
By MDBayNews Staff With just days remaining before Maryland’s candidate filing deadline on February 24, a late-stage...
“The Senate President Is Not a King”: LaPin Delivers 7,000 Signatures Demanding Vote on HB 488
By MDBayNews Staff ANNAPOLIS, MD — In a pointed challenge to Senate leadership, Army veteran and State Senate candidate...
Maryland AG Brown Urges Senate to Reject SAVE Act — Because Election Officials Are “Too Dumb” to Verify IDs
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown is the latest Democrat to jump on the opposition...
Moore’s “Working With Judges” Comment Fuels Scrutiny After $147M Court Contract
By MDBayNews Staff As Maryland voters prepare for another heated election cycle, Governor Wes Moore is once again facing...
Poll-Driven Redistricting? Maryland Democrats Play With the Map Again
By MDBayNews Staff A new article in Maryland The Daily Record reports that a poll of “likely Democratic voters” shows...
MARYLAND’S LEGISLATIVE MAPS: NOT THE WORST GERRYMANDER — BUT DESIGNED TO LOCK IN POWER
By MDBayNews Staff Maryland’s state legislative districts are often lumped into the same category as the state’s...