Across the country, maps are being challenged, overturned, and redrawn, and those changes will shape who controls Congress in 2026 and beyond. But while other states are recalibrating their political power, Maryland is standing still. In a moment this consequential, standing still is the same as falling behind.

Recent news notes that Democrats could gain seats nationally because courts in some states have struck down Republican gerrymanders. That’s a step in the right direction, but it’s not a strategy. In a narrowly divided House, a single seat could determine whether reproductive rights are protected or stripped away, whether voting protections expand or collapse, and whether working families nationwide get relief or get left behind.

Republican-led states aren’t waiting on the courts. They are aggressively redrawing their maps now, with direct pressure from Donald Trump himself, to lock in power and silence Black and working-class voters. Every new map they produce shifts the balance of Congress, and every shift affects Maryland’s future.

Yet Maryland, one of the bluest states in the nation, continues to tell itself a comforting story: that being “blue” is enough. That our congressional map, drawn years ago under very different political conditions, is somehow immune to the national realignment underway. That we can sit back while other states reshape the battlefield.

We can’t. Not anymore.

If we fail to act, Maryland risks becoming the weak link — the Democratic-led state that chose comfort over courage while the rest of the country redrew the lines that will decide the next decade of power. Waiting means gambling with our own federal influence and leaving Black and working-class communities vulnerable to decisions made in states that do not share our values.

Maryland doesn’t need to follow what other states are doing. We have the opportunity and the responsibility to lead. That starts with calling a special legislative session to redraw our congressional map in a way that protects fair representation and reflects the urgency of this moment.

The national map is shifting whether we participate or not. The only question is whether Maryland helps shape the future, or lets others shape it for us.

Maryland cannot be the weak link. It must be part of the firewall.

-- Jen Dwyer, District 10 resident, Deputy Director, Progressive Maryland