MOORE TO MOVE AHEAD WITH REDISTRICTING WITHOUT FERGUSON: Gov. Wes Moore (D) took the first step to starting a mid-cycle redistricting process on Tuesday, moving forward despite staunch opposition from the Maryland Senate president, a fellow Democrat key to making it happen. Erin Cox/The Washington Post.
- Moore announced the formation of a five-member Governor’s Redistricting Advisory Commission, to be led by U.S. Sen. Angela Alsobrooks. It is the latest move to redraw Maryland’s eight congressional districts with an eye toward eliminating the last Republican district. Bryan Sears/Maryland Matters.
- The move comes less than a week after Senate President Bill Ferguson, a fellow Democrat, threw cold water on the idea of redrawing the maps to favor their party. Seven out of eight of Maryland’s U.S. House of Representatives seats are held by Democrats. But Maryland has been getting pressure from national Democrats to redraw the boundaries to create an 8-0 map that would counter President Donald Trump-inspired new maps in Republican-led states. Pamela Wood/The Baltimore Banner.
MOORE TO FREE $62M MORE FOR SNAP RECIPIENTS: Gov. Wes Moore said Monday that Maryland will release $62 million to ensure full November SNAP benefits for recipients across the state affected by the ongoing federal government shutdown. The funding, authorized by executive order, comes after federal courts ordered the Trump administration to provide contingency funds for the program. Mennatalla Ibrahim and Mathew Schumer/The Baltimore Sun.
- The $62 million in SNAP funds will be issued under the same declaration of emergency Moore declared last week, when he announced that the state would make $10 million available for food banks and pantries across the state and would go directly to SNAP recipients through their electronic benefits transfer accounts. Danielle Brown/Maryland Matters.
- Moore’s announcement represents a change in position. For weeks, the governor had said repeatedly that states like Maryland couldn’t afford to pick up the tab for funding that the federal government is obligated to provide for vulnerable Americans. More than 680,000 Marylanders — nearly 40% of them children — receive SNAP benefits each month to help keep food on the table. The average benefit is $180. Pamela Wood/The Baltimore Banner.
COLUMN: REP HARRIS SILENT ON PAIN OF SKYROCKETING INSURANCE: Nowhere will the pain of ending Obamacare tax credits sting like it will in U.S. Rep. Andy Harris’ backyard. Five percent of residents in Worcester County, where Ocean City drives the economy with thousands of seasonal jobs, decide if they can afford up to 95% increases in the cost of health insurance or gamble on going uninsured. While a small number compared to Central Maryland, this tiny county has Maryland’s highest Affordable Care Act enrollment rate. Yet the Eastern Shore Republican doesn’t want to talk about this. Rick Hutzell/The Baltimore Banner.
POLL: MOORE APPROVAL RATINGS STEADY, HOWEVER … The first part of a UMBC statewide poll reveals that 52% of Maryland adults approve of Gov. Wes Moore’s performance, while 44% disapprove. Approval ratings are sharply divided along party lines, with 78% of Democratic voters approving, compared to only 8% of Republican voters. Tiffany Watson/WBFF-TV News.
- “We have polled on him twice now, once in October — so basically a year ago — and then in February 2025,” said Mileah Kromer, a pollster who heads the UMBC institute that conducted the poll. “He was sitting at a 54% approval rating in October. It’s at 52% rating in February. So, there’s really no change on that sort of approval top line.” But beneath the top approval numbers, there is a trend of growing disapproval of the governor’s performance. Bryan Sears/Maryland Matters.
OPINION: IMMIGRATION SYSTEM FAILS TO HELP EDUCATION BUILDERS: In September, ICE agents arrested Dr. Ian Andre Roberts after a local police search reportedly turned up a handgun in his home. In much of the U.S., a firearm in a residence is as ordinary as a lawnmower in a garage. But this is not a question of firearms. This is about status. About papers. Roberts became a teacher. Then a principal. Then a superintendent. He earned a master’s degree from St. John’s University and began a doctorate at Morgan State. Laura Bravo Perez, Ines Alvarado and Axel Valencia/Maryland Reporter.
FREDERICK TO ELECT CITY COUNCIL, MAYOR TODAY: Today is Election Day in Frederick, and voters will decide between Republicans who prioritize cutting the city’s property tax rate and Democrats whose focus is housing and the effects of federal changes. Up for election are the mayor and seven City Council seats. Only the mayoral race and two of the City Council races are contested. Nolan Wilkinson/The Frederick News Post.
PG LEADERS LAUNCH TRANSIT-DEVELOPMENT COALITION: Elected officials, business and nonprofit leaders, and community activists converged in central Prince George’s County on Oct. 29 to formally launch the Blue Line Corridor Coalition, a locally based partnership committed to advancing transit-oriented development, fair access and sustained growth along Metro’s Blue Line stations in the area. James Wright Jr./The Washington Informer.
B’MORE HOMICIDE RATE, NONFATAL SHOOTINGS CONTINUE TO DROP: Baltimore’s homicide rate continued its downward trend in October, dropping 31.7% compared with this time last year, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said Monday. The mayor’s office said there have been 112 homicides and 270 nonfatal shootings in Baltimore as of Nov. 3, a drop from 164 homicides and 346 nonfatal shootings during the same time period in 2024. Chevall Pryce/The Baltimore Sun.
Gov. Moore needs to stop wasting our time and money on this “MOORE FAIR” redistricting process. Seriously how dare he insult our intelligence by trying to make the Maps “Moore Fair!” I think his idea of Fair and mine are different. The Dem party has slowly eliminated Republican districts in this state over time. I don’t care what Texas did or any of the other states with this Mid-Decade Redistricting. Just because they did, doesn’t mean we should and it certainly is not a good thing for our Republic. I never thought I would agree with the State Senate President but he is absolutely correct. If we do make a new map, it will get challenged in court and considering our Justices in the MD Supreme Court were mostly appointed by Gov. Hogan, will get over turned if it become 8-0. Or it may be that the other districts get diluted and more competitive creating a situation where the Dems will regret it. In reality only the Repubs stand to gain from this National Political Pandering, as if this is seriously about “Fair Maps” well we know they are unfair and its toward the Repubs, not the Dems. Stop disenfranchising voters by Gerrymandering lopsided Party control. We can’t get Gov. Hogan back in Office soon enough.