Baltimore Sun/Tribune News Service: Without a national solution, Maryland Democrats squeezed into uncomfortable spot on redistricting
Baltimore Sun/Tribune News Service: Without a national solution, Maryland Democrats squeezed into uncomfortable spot on redistricting
BALTIMORE — Bill Ferguson wore a detached expression and spoke in a monotone.
One after another, General Assembly Republicans pressed the state Senate president to specify which Democratic lawmakers or staff drafted the latest map of Maryland’s congressional district lines and what their priorities were.
Ferguson’s demeanor suggested he wanted to be anywhere but the livestreamed hearing.
“I answered the question,” he replied to one delegate who was insistently seeking more details about how the map was redrawn after a judge rejected an initial version as extremely partisan. “Thank you for that perspective,” he said robotically to another GOP critic.
Six days later, Republican Gov. Larry Hogan signed the map into law — over the objections of many in his party — ending the arduous, politically perilous and often downright unpleasant task of finalizing boundary lines for the state’s eight congressional districts.
It was a process, analysts say, that put Maryland Democrats on the spot, squeezing them uncomfortably between the competing objectives of maintaining their party’s control of the U.S. House and embracing transparency and government reform.
And redistricting is not over yet. The Maryland Court of Appeals is still considering a Republican challenge to the Democratic-drawn map of 47 districts in the state House of Delegates and state Senate.
“There’s a lot that’s just not being said,” said Joanne Antoine, executive director of Common Cause Maryland, a nonpartisan group that focuses on government accountability. “When we talk about politics getting ugly, I think redistricting is at the center of all of it.” …
Common Cause’s Antoine said redistricting presents a bad look for the state.
“Voters have no reason to trust the redistricting process. The process is riddled with problems,” she said. “We continue to punt to this idea of a national solution. Unfortunately, it has not come.”