Bouchat Calls Question 3 an “Arrogant” Attack on Citizen Sovereignty, and Says His Own Party Is Part of the Problem
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews Del. Christopher Eric Bouchat, R-Carroll and Frederick, is not a delegate who stays quiet...
Elections & Democracy
Two Other Questions on Maryland’s Ballot: What Questions 1 and 2 Would Do
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews | Election 2026 | Analysis Maryland voters will decide three statewide constitutional...
Question 3: What Maryland’s Redistricting Amendment Actually Does, and Why It Deserves a No
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews Gov. Wes Moore spent Thursday in Washington predicting Marylanders will vote overwhelmingly...
Green Party Candidate Says MPT Chairman’s Donations to Moore Raise Conflict of Interest Questions
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews BALTIMORE, Md. — Green Party gubernatorial candidate Andy Ellis is accusing the head of...
Redistricting Case Not Over: Emergency Motion Filed as Circuit Courts Face Friday Deadline to Implement Supreme Court Order
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews Full text of Thursday's order shows the Supreme Court remanded both cases rather than...
Maryland Supreme Court Hears Redistricting Arguments, No Ruling Yet as Ballot Printing Deadline Arrives
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews ANNAPOLIS — The Supreme Court of Maryland heard oral arguments Thursday morning in the...
Second Judge Strikes Down Redistricting Amendment, Citing Contradiction in Bill’s Own Preamble
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews CAMBRIDGE — A Dorchester County Circuit Court judge ruled Friday that Maryland's proposed...
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...
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...