Maryland Gov. Wes Moore calls special session for House speaker vote, doesn't include redistricting

Tinashe Chingarande and Mennatalla Ibrahim, The Baltimore Sun on Dec 9, 2025

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Gov. Wes Moore is leaving the door open for the Maryland General Assembly to “consider other business” when it meets on Dec. 16 to elect a new House speaker. In that discussion, Maryland Republicans want to highlight veto overrides and redistricting, a debate that has raised concerns among the GOP about potentially eliminating the state’s lone Republican congressional district.

Moore signed an executive order on Tuesday calling for a special session on Dec. 16 to elect the next House speaker, following Del. Adrienne A. Jones’ resignation last week. House Democrats are also scheduled to meet behind closed doors to select a nominee for speaker on the same day.

In a statement announcing this order, Moore’s office said, “The General Assembly may also consider other business to be resolved prior to the beginning of the 2026 legislative session.”

Democratic Caucus Chair Del. Emily Shetty will preside over the process, which will involve adopting a new set of rules to beat the short timeline in which Democrats need to pick a speaker before the General Assembly returns to Annapolis for the 2026 Legislative Session on Jan. 14, 2026. Hopeful candidates also will make their case to their colleagues, who will then vote on their choice for the job. A successful speaker nominee will have a majority of the caucus’ votes.

So far, Del. Joseline Peña-Melnyk is the frontrunner and sole delegate seeking the House’s top job. Peña-Melnyk already has obtained the support of many of her colleagues, who have pointed to her chairmanship of the House Healthcare and Government Operations Committee as evidence of why she should lead the chamber.

“The Senate received the governor’s proclamation calling a special session next week. The Senate supports our colleagues in the House of Delegates and is looking forward to joining them as they elect a new speaker,” a spokesperson for Senate President Bill Ferguson told The Baltimore Sun on a phone call Tuesday.

Redistricting talks ‘would be premature’

House Republicans say this speaker election is less controversial than when Jones won the role, following the death of Michael E. Busch in 2019. But they said they are preparing for other issues to be raised.

“When looking at the governor’s press release, he did mention that other business could be taken up. I would imagine he’s referring to the several vetoes that he did in the previous legislative session this year, but another area of concern — particularly for our [GOP] members — is redistricting,” House Minority Whip Jesse Pippy told The Sun Tuesday, adding that the session announcement is “very short notice.”

The Senate is constitutionally required to consider veto overrides in the special session next week.

Maryland State Sen. Arthur Ellis and State Sen. Antonio Hayes, both Democrats, told The Sun that all vetoes are being considered. A senior Senate staffer, however, said that redistricting won’t be discussed during the special session.

The Baltimore Sun obtained a list of veto overrides the Senate plans to consider on Dec. 16 that was discussed during a private Senate Democratic Caucus meeting on Tuesday — this includes overriding Moore’s vetoes on a bill to create a commission to study reparations and a bill mandating the University of Maryland to study the environmental impact of building data centers in the state, among 23 other bills Moore vetoed.

On why redistricting won’t be considered in the upcoming special session, Maryland House Majority Leader David Moon, a Democrat, told The Sun, “It would be premature.” Moon has said he would sponsor redistricting legislation in the House.

“The special session is really being called so that we get situated quickly with a new speaker. The governor’s redistricting advisory commission is still meeting. There’s one more [public listening session] scheduled on the 12th,” Moon said in a phone interview with The Baltimore Sun. “So we are still awaiting a decision, if any, as to what’s going to be recommended for mid-decade redistricting.”

Moon added that although House Democrats’ leadership team has been discussing how to navigate veto overrides and other legislation for “some time now,” House Democrats still need a leader to decide their exact course of action in the 2026 legislative session.

“The veto overrides must be taken up, so we need a leader in place to start managing through those decisions as well as how to navigate the current fiscal situation,” Moon said. “All of those spell out a scenario where the house saw a desire to have this vacancy filled ASAP.”

Del. Susan McComas, a Harford County Republican, said the GOP had planned a caucus meeting Dec. 11 to discuss legislative priorities and a shared platform, but she is unsure how the agenda might change now that the special session has been called.

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