Baltimore County Council set to vote Monday on redistricting plan. 5 things to know

Rona Kobell

The Baltimore Banner

September 14, 2025

When the Baltimore County Council voted last year to expand from seven to nine districts, members knew the mapmaking would not be easy. It hadn’t been smooth the last several times that county leaders redrew political lines — and those were much smaller changes that reconfigured districts but didn’t change the number of representatives.

But the process of getting to a larger council, which voters approved in November, has managed to frustrate everyone involved. Members of the public feel excluded, despite multiple hearings; civil rights groups are mulling a lawsuit; councilmen are sniping at each other; and neighborhood leaders are just trying to keep up with the latest changes at meetings that can run six to seven hours.

The council is scheduled to vote Monday on the newest redistricting map, which would be used for the 2026 elections. According to the county charter, it must adapt a map by Oct. 1.

Here’s what to know.

The newest map creates 3 majority-minority districts on the west side

Multiple maps. Multiple mapmakers. Finally, on Tuesday morning, the County Council released its latest plan, developed by Councilmen Mike Ertel and Izzy Patoka. It creates two majority-Black districts on the west side, and one district that is majority-minority, consisting of Asian, Black, Latino and other minority populations.

The final map is a hybrid of sorts between the council’s original idea of two Black-majority districts on the west side, up from one, and a redistricting commission’s map that also added one majority-minority district on the west side and one on the east.

Councilman Julian Jones, the council’s lone Black member, is watching his district being carved into three smaller ones and being pulled in multiple directions.

Woodlawn constituents prefer the map with only two Black-majority districts because those improve the chances of electing a Black council member — with Black voting populations of 75% in one and 61% in the other. However, some civil rights advocates and state legislators prefer the new version; which has three districts with Black voting populations of 57%, 56% and 44%. Putting lots of Black voters into one district is known as “packing,” and spreading Black voters out across many districts to dilute their power is called “cracking.” Good mapmakers try to avoid both.

Joanne Antoine, executive director for Common Cause Maryland, said neither version of the map ensures adequate representation for a county where about a third of the 850,000 residents are Black. Growing Latino, Asian and Arab-American populations mean Baltimore County soon could become a majority-minority county with possibly a majority-white council representing its residents.

“Their map reflects their own interests, and what they want,” she said of the council. “It’s not what the community wants.”

The east side may not get a minority district — at least not this time

Dozens of east side residents have said they want a map that reunites communities. Middle River is split across three council districts; the new map puts it back together. Essex activists have said they share more with Middle River than with Dundalk, which they’re currently grouped with. Waterfront communities want to advocate as one for flood protections and development controls.

The Black community is divided over the importance of a majority-Black or majority-minority district on the east side.

Sharonda Huffman, an Essex housing advocate who is running for a council seat in 2026, has pushed for greater minority representation in the area. But Tamara Gunter, president of the Greenleigh Advisory Board, representing a diverse, upscale neighborhood in Middle River, is content with the east side as it is on the council’s proposed maps.

“I am seeing all of these people just come out of the woodwork, and saying, ‘Oh, we’re not in favor. We need a Black district.’ Just because you’re Black doesn’t mean you’re going to get my vote,” Gunter told the council.

If the east side doesn’t get a majority-minority district now, it’s likely to get one in the next redistricting, given demographic trends.

The new council will be more Republican than the county population

Registered Democrats outnumber Republicans in the county by a 2-1 margin. The council split under the new map is expected to be 5-4, similar to the current split of 4-3. That’s because backers of council expansion needed five votes to put the measure on last fall’s ballot — and need five votes to ratify the new maps.

That gives the council’s three Republicans clout to draw a map favorable to their party.

Patoka believed the compromise with Republican councilmen was a good tradeoff to bring more diversity to the all-male, mostly white council.

And as Republican Councilman David Marks likes to say, “A good Democrat beats a bad Republican in any of these districts.”

Civil rights groups may sue over the maps — but the courts have changed

After the council undertook a minor redistricting in 2021, the NAACP sued Baltimore County. The county lost the first round and had to pay close to $1 million in legal fees.

The ACLU has notched several victories in Eastern Shore redistricting cases.

But if civil rights groups sue again, they may face a less-friendly court. The federal judges nominated by President Donald Trump may share his views on diversity, equity and inclusion.

Redistricting has exposed fissures in the council

Nationwide, redistricting is fraught — take Texas in 2025 — but Baltimore County has some unique challenges. The county wraps around the city of Baltimore like a crab claw; the Urban-Rural Demarcation Line, which restricts development and protects rural lands, is a jagged circle around nearly 600 square miles of streams, forests, and horse farms. Councilmen are loath to relinquish faithful precincts — especially when elections are close.

Still, the Democratic councilmen were surprised when their colleague, Pat Young of Catonsville, announced at a news conference last week that he’d been frozen out of closed-door map discussions. Young then sent out a fundraising letter promising to champion the public’s desire for transparency.

Ertel and Patoka took aim at Young at the recent work session, accusing him of opining from the sidelines while they rolled up their sleeves to do the real work.

Young fired back: “I think you’re missing the point of the entire conversation. It’s not about whether I participate — it’s whether there’s an opportunity for the public.”

While Antoine and others would like the council to consider the redistricting commission’s map, the Republicans have announced that they would not vote for it. Whether they pass the new version Monday depends on Jones’ decision, as well as whether Republican Wade Kach attends the meeting. He has missed the last few sessions for health reasons.

Fraught as the council is now, its vote on this map may be one of its last significant actions. Patoka, Young and Jones are not seeking reelection in order to run for county executive in 2026. Kach is retiring; fellow Republicans David Marks and Todd Crandell have not announced their political plans yet. Only Ertel, the current council chair, has said he will run again.