Maryland's Congressional Gerrymander
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| Marylanders for Joe Getty | October 5, 2011 |
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I want to offer many thanks to my supporters who attended the "Maryland's Redistricting Conundrum" fundraiser this morning in Westminster.
This morning, we spent considerable time analyzing the proposed Congressional redistricting map released yesterday by the Governor O'Malley's Redistricting Advisory Committee (to view the proposal click here). This plan would substantially curtail representation by rural Marylanders in Congress, especially in the traditionally unified Western Maryland counties now comprising the 6th Cong. District.
Gov. O'Malley has already proclaimed that the final map that he presents to the Maryland General Assembly later this month will be substantially the same as yesterday's GRAC proposal. However, the public record is open through October 11 and you are invited to comment on the new congressional district configuration by using the online process (click here).
The geographical area now comprising State Senate District 5 which I represent would be substantially changed under the O'Malley proposal. Today, it is primarily in the 6th Cong. District represented by Cong. Roscoe Bartlett (R).
The proposal endorsed by Gov. Martin O'Malley targets Cong. Roscoe Bartlett by carving up the 6th Cong. District into wedges in an effort to expand Democrat representation in Maryland's congressional delegation from six to seven Democrats and to whittle the Republicans to one sole member.
Since 1972, the heart of the 6th Congressional District has been the five Western Maryland counties of Garrett, Allegany, Washington, Frederick and Carroll. However, throughout Maryland's history, it is traditional for our state's congressional delegation to have at least one rural representative from Western Maryland. (Historically the district elected someone from Cumberland, Hagerstown or Frederick and in recent history it was a member of the Beall, Mathias or Byron families)
Gov. O'Malley's redistricting plan is a partisan gerrymander to remove rural representation in Congress and concentrate state power in the urban areas including Montgomery and Prince George's counties and Baltimore City.
An excellent example of the Democrat gerrymandering in the proposal is highlighted by Len Lazarick of MarylandReporter.com in an article describing how Cong. District 3 snakes through Baltimore City and Baltimore, Howard, Montgomery and Anne Arundel counties. At one point, the new district crosses water at the mouth of the Magothy River in order to reach its intended goal of Annapolis. (See "Analysis: 30% Solution Creates Monstrous 3rd District - click here).
The 6th Cong. District is significantly reconfigured under O'Malley's plan. In additional to the complete removal of Carroll County and the current portions of Baltimore and Harford counties, the proposal also removes a large section of Frederick County from the 6th District.
In doing so, approximately 50% of population in the 6th Cong. District would now reside in Montgomery County. The district has also been configured to tilt Democrat reflected by the 2008 presidential vote in the newly-drawn district which was 60% Obama and 40% McCain.
Under the O'Malley proposal, the northern Baltimore County portion being removed from the 6th Cong. District would be divided between the 1st Cong. District (represented now by Cong. Andy Harris) and the 7th Cong. District (represented now by Cong. Elijah Cummings (D)).
Carroll County would also be split between two separate districts in Gov. O'Malley's proposed plan. The area that includes Manchester, Hampstead, Taneytown and Finksburg would be included in the 1st Cong. District. This district would include the entire Eastern Shore and skirt along the Mason-Dixon Line through Harford, Baltimore and Carroll Counties.
Westminster and the southern portion of Carroll County would be moved from the 6th Congressional District to the 8th currently represented by Cong. Christopher Van Hollen (D). While this portion of Carroll County would be joined with a large geographical area in Frederick County, the majority of the 8th Congressional District will remain in Montgomery County.
Although these areas in Carroll and Frederick counties being removed from the 6th Cong. District are strongly conservative, they are being redistricted in the newly drawn 8th Cong. District of which 70% of the population resides in Montgomery. Moreover, the makeup of the entire district is population that voted 64% for Barack Obama and 36% for John McCain in 2008.
After attacking rural Maryland with a septic ban, centralized planning controls under PlanMaryland, increased tolls and other taxes and fees, O'Malley has now turned his war on rural Maryland to focus on eliminating the historical rural representation in the state's Congressional delegation.
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Maryland's Redistricting Conundrum
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
7:30 a.m.
The Best Western
451 WMC Drive, Westminster, MD 21158
$60.00 per person
Please R.S.V.P by September 29, 2011
Please make checks payable to: Marylanders for Joe Getty
P.O. Box 437
Hampstead, MD 21074
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