Accused of “extreme” gerrymandering, Maryland lawmakers rush to pass new congressional map
The newest iteration reverses a change that made Democrats more competitive in the state’s lone Republican congressional district, according to someone who helped draft the map, which is due to the judge by 9 a.m. Thursday. A single virtual public hearing on the changes is slated for 8:30 a.m. Tuesday. It was not clear Monday afternoon whether the public will able to participate.Last week, Anne Arundel County Senior Judge Lynne A.
The new version addresses that in part: It removes the Democrat-leaning Annapolis area from the 1st District that primarily consists of the Republican-leaning counties on the Eastern Shore, according to the person who helped draw the map, speaking on the condition of anonymity because it is not publicly available. The original map used the Bay Bridge to connect the regions, thereby diluting the concentration of Republicans on the Eastern Shore.
The House Republican caucus wrote a letter Monday asking the legislature to adopt the map drawn by a citizen committee created by Gov. Larry Hogan .“Rather than formulate another map whose genesis can be hidden under the dark cloak of ‘legislative privilege’ as the previous plan was, the General Assembly should adopt what is — quite literally — the will of the governed. The map created by the Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission is ready to go.