The Baltimore County Council finally has its new district map.
The voters approved a ballot question from the 2024 Election that increases the size of the Baltimore County Council from seven members to nine members.
There has been debate on how to split up the county into nine districts, but a map was passed last night by the council 5-2.
Democrats Julian Jones and Pat Young were the only two council members to vote against the map.
There has been a call to create more African American districts since there is currently only one African American council member (Jones).
The original map proposed last spring called for two majority-minority districts and a Democratic balance of power of 5 to 4.
Other maps were proposed to create a third majority-minority district, but that angered many Republicans as that map created a 6 to 3 Democratic advantage.
After an amendment was added to this map, it appears the final map will have three majority-minority
districts and four districts favorable to Republicans.
Another issue was keeping similar communities together in the same district. Middle River and Essex were split into two different districts in one proposal but will remain together under the approved map.
Councilman David Marks said no map is perfect, but he is satisfied and voted in favor of the proposal.
“I applaud the other members of the Baltimore County Council who supported a fair, bipartisan redistricting map that creates competitive districts where qualified candidates of either party can win. This map meets our legal obligations while preserving many communities to the greatest extent possible,” Marks said.
“While I wish that the area south of Interstate-95 would have remained in the Perry Hall/White Marsh district, there was a ‘ripple effect’ as the Council attempted to meet its legal requirements under the Voting Rights Act.”
Marks added there was a final attempt to gerrymander the map, but he is glad those efforts were defeated.
“Last-minute attempts by partisan Democrats to gerrymander Baltimore County were an absolute failure. Baltimore County is not the State of Maryland; it isn’t California or Texas. We reject extreme partisanship and produced a map where qualified candidates of either party can win,” Marks stated.
Sharonda Dillard-Huffman, a Democratic candidate who filed for the Baltimore County Council race in the 2026 Election, said the new map places her in new Council District 8.
“I was running for council since last year. I am grateful that I was able to help work with other leaders in Baltimore County closer to an equitable map. It was not the best map but it will suffice,” Dillard-Huffman told Eastcountytimes.com.
