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March 26, 2023

The Chestertown Spy

An Educational News Source for Chestertown Maryland

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House Democrats Advance Congressional District Map Opposed by Hogan, Republicans

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Maryland’s House of Delegates advanced a congressional district map drafted by a legislative advisory panel on Tuesday evening, over objections from Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. and the Republican caucus.

The 97-42 vote came after nearly an hour of floor debate and just hours after Democrats in the chamber predictably rejected an amendment that would have replaced the Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission’s map with one put forward by the Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission established by Hogan.

The legislative panel’s proposal would create seven districts likely to favor Democrats and would move the solidly Republican 1st District into tossup territory.

The congressional map adopted by the Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission. Screenshot from the Maryland General Assembly website.

House Minority Leader Jason C. Buckel (R-Washington) introduced the amendment that would have switched the Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission’s proposed congressional map in House Bill 1 with the map proposed by the multi-partisan panel Hogan created.

“It’s really very compact, and it’s really very contiguous, and it represents communities of interest,” Buckel said of the Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission map.

Buckel, one of two Republicans on the seven-member Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission (LRAC), said he opposes the maps that commission created because the districts aren’t compact.

Buckel’s amendment was ultimately voted down, largely along partisan lines, 93-43.

In a joint committee hearing Monday, lawmakers advanced the LRAC proposal and didn’t vote on the Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission proposal.

The LRAC was created by Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) and House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones (D-Baltimore County). Jones and Ferguson are both members of that panel alongside two other Democratic legislative leaders, the two Republican legislative leaders and Karl Aro, the commission chair and former head of the nonpartisan Department of Legislative Services.

Compactness of U.S. House districts has been a key aspect of the debate on the state’s next set of congressional maps. Republicans have highlighted the fact that the Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission sought to minimize county splits in drawing their congressional proposal, but at the Monday committee hearing on both map proposals, Aro said compactness isn’t as important a factor in congressional maps compared to population equality and compliance with the federal Voting Rights Act.

Del. C.T. Wilson (D-Charles) defended the Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission map during the Tuesday morning floor debate on Buckel’s amendment, and said panelists focused on preserving communities of interest, protecting the voting power of people of color and keeping as many people as possible in their current districts over compactness. Wilson added that the LRAC map still marks a “dramatic change” because it is more compact than current maps, but also said Maryland’s borders don’t lend themselves to neatly drawn districts.

“The shape of Maryland isn’t pleasing to the eye,” Wilson said. “It’s misshapen and out of proportion.”

House Majority Leader Eric G. Luedtke (D-Montgomery) urged lawmakers to reject Buckel’s amendment, and said that if Hogan and Republicans in the General Assembly oppose gerrymandering they should support the federal For The People Act, which would require nonpartisan redistricting commissions across the country. That legislation, sponsored by Maryland Rep. John P. Sarbanes (D), passed the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this year but has been blocked by Republicans in the Senate.

Luedtke noted that Hogan recently took credit for the bipartisan infrastructure bill that recently passed Congress and was signed into law by President Biden, and sarcastically wondered why Hogan wouldn’t do the same for the Sarbanes bill if he was so concerned about gerrymandering.

“If he’s that influential in the [U.S.] Senate, I would urge him to call for the passage of the For the People Act,” Luedtke said.

Other House Republicans took issue with the partisan breakdown of the proposed LRAC map and the state’s current congressional districts. Current maps create a 7-1 partisan breakdown favoring Democrats, and with the 1st Congressional District redrawn to be much more competitive, the LRAC’s proposal could result in an 8-0 partisan breakdown.

“There’s definitely more Democrats than Republicans in the state of Maryland, but it’s not 7-1,” said Del. Matthew Morgan (R-St. Mary’s). He noted that after the 1990 Census, Maryland had a 4-4 partisan split in its congressional delegation, which moved to 6-2 in favor of Democrats following the 2000 Census.

House Republicans renewed their criticism of the LRAC map at the Tuesday evening floor session: Del. Haven N. Shoemaker Jr. (R-Carroll) was particularly critical of the 1st District, which in the proposed map crosses the Bay Bridge to include parts of Anne Arundel County with the Eastern Shore, and the 8th District, which as in current maps runs from the state’s border with D.C. to the border with Pennsylvania, although it would include more of Carroll County in the LRAC proposal.

“Just because something is legal doesn’t necessarily make it right,” Shoemaker said.

Susan W. Krebs (R-Carroll County) pushed back on the idea that county boundaries aren’t important in congressional maps.

“We have county delegations,” Krebs said. “We have county school boards. We do everything by counties in Maryland.”

Luedtke said Tuesday evening it isn’t that counties don’t matter — but that there are a slew of different considerations that need to be considered in redistricting, including keeping voters in current congressional districts to the extent possible and complying with the Voting Rights Act.

“There should not be any single factor that governs everything we do on these maps,” Luedtke said.

Del. Jheanelle K. Wilkins (D-Montgomery) noted that recent U.S. Census data showed that Maryland is among the most diverse states in the country, and said the LRAC proposal reflects that growing diversity.

“When I look at this map, something that I believe is absolutely critical is that we have a map that represents that diversity … and what I see here is a map that increases our diversity in several really critical congressional districts,” Wilkins said, adding that the proposed congressional map is more compact than the current one.

She noted that the number of Black residents increases in Districts 4, 5 and 7 in the LRAC map. Districts 4 and 7 would be majority Black in the LRAC proposal, and District 5 would include a Black plurality.

The Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission map minimizes county splits and received an “A” from the Princeton Gerrymandering Project, which evaluated the proposal based on geographical features, competitiveness and partisan fairness. The Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission’s final proposed congressional map received an “F” based on those same criteria from analysts at Princeton. Luedtke on Tuesday morning questioned Princeton’s rating system during the floor debate because it doesn’t include Voting Rights Act compliance.

The LRAC proposal is now set to be taken up by the decennial Senate Standing Committee on Reapportionment and Redistricting on Wednesday morning before heading to the Senate floor.

By Bennett Leckrone

Once-in-a-Decade Congressional Redistricting Effort Will Be the Focus at Special Session

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Lawmakers will take swift action on new congressional district boundaries when the General Assembly convenes today in Annapolis for a rare December special session.

Partisan tension is expected to run high, as legislators deliberate maps crafted by commissions convened by Republican Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) and Democratic legislative leaders — and consider whether to override the governor’s vetoes of more than 20 bills passed earlier this year.

Democrats hold wide majorities in the legislature, and are likely to have enough support to enact their preferred congressional map, even over a likely veto from Hogan — though an override of the redistricting plan may not happen until the 2022 regular legislative session begins in January.

Republican lawmakers have charged that the redistricting map released by the Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission created by Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) and House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones (D-Baltimore County), is a partisan gerrymander. Their complaints have been bolstered by Hogan, online ads from his political action committee, and Fair Maps Maryland, an advocacy group populated with Hogan allies.

The proposal from the legislative advisory committee — a Democratic-majority panel that included leaders from both parties in Annapolis — would smooth the edges of some of the state’s currently twisty and contorted district lines, and set districts with the possibility of electing only Democrats to Capitol Hill.

In the proposed map, the 1st Congressional District, home to the state’s sole Republican in Congress, Rep. Andrew P. Harris, would shift from solidly Republican to tossup territory by crossing the Chesapeake Bay at the Bay Bridge and incorporating part of Anne Arundel County.

The Princeton Gerrymandering Project — which graded the legislative panel’s proposal as an ‘F’ and Hogan’s as an ‘A’ — said the legislature’s congressional map would create a near-equal partisan split, with 50.9% Democrats and 49% Republican, for the 1st District.

The map created by the Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission and favored by Hogan would likely create a 6-2 Democratic partisan advantage.

The map approved by lawmakers this week will guide congressional elections in the state for the next decade. And lawmakers will decide which map to approve against a backdrop of a slim Democratic majority in the U.S. House and an evenly divided U.S. Senate. Throughout the country, maps in Republican-controlled states have strengthened that party’s advantage. Republicans are in control of more than 180 districts nationwide, compared to about 75 districts controlled by Democrats, according to Nathan L. Gonzales, the editor and publisher of Inside Elections, which provides nonpartisan political analysis of state and national campaigns.

Maryland Democrats are under some pressure to add to the party’s congressional tally, while Hogan has vowed to veto the legislative commission’s “disgracefully gerrymandered” maps.

Dozens of residents signed up to testify during a brief 35-hour sign-up period last week.

A joint hearing on two congressional redistricting plans is set for 12:30 p.m.

For the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, members of the public will be allowed to watch floor sessions in the State House galleries, though seating is limited. Committee hearings will remain virtual during the special session.

While redistricting is the marquee topic for the special session, the General Assembly’s days will be full. Lawmakers have been told to prepare for long days on the floor on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. The session is expected to end by Friday, though extended deliberation could push the meeting into the weekend.

Among the vetoed bills under consideration are measures that would remove the governor from the state’s parole process, allowed tiered county-level income tax rates, expand collective bargaining rights for community college professors and employees.

Lawmakers are unlikely to pass emergency bills proposed by Hogan that he said are intended to curb violence in the city of Baltimore.

The brief session could also bring substantial change to the legislative chamber – Economic Matters Chair Dereck E. Davis (D-Prince George’s) is favored to win a secret ballot election as the state’s new treasurer, following the retirement of Nancy K. Kopp, who has held the position for nearly two decades.

Davis was recommended for the position by a Special Joint Legislative Committee to Select the State Treasurer that met late last month.

By Danielle E. Gaines

Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission Releases Four ‘Concept’ Congressional Maps for Public Comment

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The Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission released four draft concept congressional maps Tuesday evening.

The redistricting panel, convened by Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) and House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones (D-Baltimore County) is tasked with drawing up congressional and legislative maps for the General Assembly to consider. Lawmakers are set to return to Annapolis on Dec. 6 for a special session to handle congressional redistricting.

The four conceptual congressional maps are available online alongside information about the population and racial makeup of each district — but not the partisan political breakdown. Some of the configurations are vast departures from current maps, including two draft maps of a 1st District that crosses the Chesapeake Bay Bridge to include portions of Anne Arundel County alongside the Eastern Shore.

LRAC congressional plan 1

LRAC congressional plan 2

LRAC congressional plan 3

LRAC congressional plan 4

 

Commission Chair Karl Aro, a former head of the nonpartisan Department of Legislative Services, said in a statement that the conceptual maps are a baseline for public comment and based on testimony the commission has received in their public hearings so far.

“The approach that this commission has taken is to create a set of four Congressional map concepts for public comment,” Aro said. “It is our belief that Marylanders should see and comment on more than just a single map. Each of these four concepts represent a starting point for an approach that was grounded in testimony the commission heard.”

Aro added that, “to the extent practicable,” the maps aim to keep Marylanders in their current congressional districts.

“Portions of these districts have remained intact for at least 30 years and reflect a commitment to following the Voting Rights Act, protecting existing communities of interest, and utilizing existing natural and political boundaries,” Aro said. “It is our sincere intention to dramatically improve upon our current map while keeping many of the bonds that have been forged over 30 years or more of shared representation and coordination.”

Dave Wasserman, the House analyst for the nonpartisan Cook Political Report tweeted Tuesday that the four congressional maps include “two that would essentially leave Rep. Andy Harris (R) safe and two weak gerrymanders that could still give him a path to reelection.”

Wasserman wrote that the third map proposal would flip Harris’ 1st District from “Trump +20 to Biden +10 — about as blue as Virginia.”

“That’s pretty surprising, considering MD Dems could easily make it Biden +15 or more and have shown little restraint gerrymandering the state in the past,” Wasserman wrote.

The General Assembly, where Democrats hold a veto-proof majority in both the House of Delegates and the state Senate, will have the final say over redistricting in Maryland.

Marylanders who testified at the Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission’s previous public meetings have urged the commission to release draft maps to the public, arguing that the public should have a chance to weigh in before the proposal heads to the General Assembly.

“It seems rather difficult for people to comment on the basis of a blank map,” Jacqueline Coolidge of the League of Women Voters told the panel at an online hearing in early October.

Ferguson and Jones issued a joint statement on Twitter after the release of the maps and said they were pleased the maps were released now, “providing the public with several weeks for input and reaction.”

“Continuing our open and transparent process, we encourage all Marylanders to provide testimony and feedback on these concepts during our upcoming statewide virtual hearing this Monday at 6 p.m. and through the LRAC email address in the coming weeks.”

Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) created a separate panel, the Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission, to draw up congressional and legislative maps that he will propose to the General Assembly. That commission, which included three Republicans, three Democrats and three unaffiliated voters, finalized its redistricting proposal earlier this month.The congressional and legislative maps proposed by the Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission are available online.

Hogan can veto congressional maps, and previously said he would oppose maps from the General Assembly that “don’t follow what the Citizens Redistricting Commission has come up with.” While Hogan could veto the congressional maps, Democrats easily overrode his vetoes on several measures during the 2021 legislative session.

Commission members will hold a statewide virtual public hearing at 6 p.m. Monday, Nov. 15. Email testimony may be sent to testimony_LRAC@mlis.state.md.us.

By Bennett Leckrone and Danielle E. Gaines

Marylanders Urge Transparency at Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission Hearing

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Marylanders urged members of the General Assembly’s Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission at a Tuesday hearing to make draft maps available for public comment before the panel’s last public hearing in November, arguing that the public should have a chance to weigh in before the General Assembly takes them up for a vote.

“It seems rather difficult for people to comment on the basis of a blank map,” Jacqueline Coolidge of the League of Women Voters told the panel at the online hearing.

Edward Johnson, co-leader of the Maryland Legislative Coalition, a progressive advocacy group, said that meaningful hearings can happen only when the commission presents draft maps.

Legislative leaders are tentatively planning a special session in early December to handle congressional redistricting, and Johnson said maps should be produced for public comment before then.

Morgan Drayton, policy and engagement manager for Common Cause Maryland, also urged the commission to produce draft maps before it concludes its public hearings in November. And she said the commission should consider starting its next statewide virtual public hearing at 6 p.m., rather than 3 p.m., to allow Maryland residents who work during the day to participate.

Nicole Y. Drew of Delta Sigma Theta, a public service-focused sorority that advocates for black communities, said the commission needs to undertake a “fair and transparent” process. She also urged members of the commission to ensure that people of color don’t have their votes diluted in the state’s next set of maps.

Commission Chair Karl Aro, a former director of the Department of Legislative Services, said the commission “will have draft maps for comment” but is gathering information.

Commission member Sen. Bryan W. Simonaire (R) noted the commission is set to conclude its public hearings on Nov. 18, and pressed Aro on when draft maps will be available for public comment.

Aro said he hopes the commission will produce draft maps by Nov. 15, and said the pandemic-related delay in Census redistricting data is to blame for the panel’s time constraints.

Aro said the public will also be able to comment when proposed district maps come up for committee hearings in the General Assembly’s special and regular sessions.

The Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission’s next in-person meeting is set for Tuesday, Oct. 12 at 6 p.m. at Morgan State University in Baltimore.

The Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission, a separate panel created by Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) to draw maps that he will propose to the General Assembly, has already drafted maps for state senate and congressional districts and is currently weighing single- vs. multi-member delegate districts. That panel is set to begin its final round of virtual public hearings Wednesday at 6 p.m.

On Tuesday, the legislative commission also heard from Brandon Russell, a St. Mary’s County resident, who urged them to keep his county whole in congressional and state legislative maps. He noted that members of the Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission included a portion of St. Mary’s County with Calvert County in their initial senate district maps, but that commission reversed course after backlash from county residents and made the county whole in a subsequent draft.

While both the Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission and Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission are tasked with conducting public hearings and drafting maps for congressional and state legislative districts, the General Assembly will have the final say over the state’s coming redistricting. Democrats hold a veto-proof majority in both the House of Delegates and the Senate.

By Bennett Leckrone

Mid-Shore Saw Little Population Growth; QA’s County Added 2K Residents, Kent Lost 1K

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Although Maryland’s population increased nearly 7% between 2010 and 2020, population growth on the Mid-Shore was virtually stagnant. Queen Anne’s County accounted for most of the growth in the last decade; Kent County’s population decline was the highest in the region.

Census population numbers are used to “determine the number of seats each state has in the U.S. House of Representatives and is also used to distribute hundreds of billions of dollars in federal funds to local communities,” according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The numbers are also used to draw state legislative districts and county-level districts for county council or commission and board of education where those seats are elected by district.

While much of the focus is on the congressional and state legislative districts, the 2020 population figures may require some small adjustments for county-level seats that are elected from districts.

Queen Anne’s County, with 2,000 more residents, likely will require the most adjustments for its county commission and school board seats, depending on where the new residents are distributed. Kent County does not elect members from districts for county commission or school board and will not need to make any adjustments despite losing nearly 1,000 residents.

Mid-Shore public bodies with districts include:

Caroline County — board of education, three districts;

Dorchester County — county council, five districts; board of education, five districts;

Queen Anne’s County — county commissioners, four districts, one at-large; board of education, four districts, one at-large;

Talbot County — board of education, seven districts.

The biggest battles will occur with the congressional and state legislative district maps. Maryland’s current congressional map is considered one of the most gerrymandered in the nation. Gov. Martin O’Malley and Democratic lawmakers packed Democratic areas into a western Maryland district that had repeatedly elected a Republican to Congress. The mapping process following the 201o Census also put more Republicans into the First District, which encompasses the Eastern Shore.

As a result, Maryland’s congressional representation went from six Democrats and two Republicans to seven Democrats and one Republican (the First District’s Andy Harris).

Two redistricting commissions — one appointed by Gov. Larry Hogan and another by Maryland legislative leaders — are already at work on the maps for the congressional and legislative district maps.

The state planning department offers adjusted redistricting data on its website, which also includes a link to a mapping web portal through which anyone may submit proposed redistricting maps for review by the Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission appointed by Hogan.

Outside groups also have offered maps, with several available to view at Dave’s Redistricting, “a free web app to create, view, analyze and share redistricting maps for all 50 states and the District of Columbia, according to the site.

The website offers five notable maps — most proportional, most competitive, best minority representation, most compact, and least splitting — for congressional, state senate, and state house redistricting plans.

At presstime, the notable congressional maps for proportionality, competitiveness, and compactness would split the Eastern Shore into two districts. The First Congressional District currently includes the entire Eastern Shore from Cecil to Worcester county and portions of Harford, Baltimore, and Carroll counties.

The current most proportional and most competitive congressional map would create a district that includes Queen Anne’s to Worcester county on the Eastern Shore, the southern Maryland counties of Calvert, Charles, and St. Mary’s, and a portion of Prince George’s County. That district is seen in yellow below.

The most proportional and most competitive Maryland congressional district maps published thus far would include seven Eastern Shore counties, three southern Maryland counties, and a portion of Prince George’s County. Screenshot from Dave’s Redistricting.

The most compact congressional map has a district that includes Kent to Worcester county, the three southern Maryland counties, and portions of Prince George’s and Anne Arundel counties. That district is seen in light purple below.

The most compact Maryland congressional district maps published thus far would include eight Eastern Shore counties, three southern Maryland counties, and portions of Prince George’s and Anne Arundel counties. Screenshot from Dave’s Redistricting.

It’s Map Drawing Time. Citizens Redistricting Commission Opens Public Submissions

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Marylanders can now submit their own proposals for redistricting to the Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission, state officials announced Thursday.

The Maryland Department of Planning’s new submission portal allows users to map their proposals for congressional and state legislative districts, and includes instructions on how to draw districts.

Members of the Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission will review maps that are received by noon on Sept. 24, according to the planning department. More submissions will be accepted when that panel begins its third round of hearings in October.

The map submission portal uses redistricting data which counts incarcerated Marylanders as residents of their last known address, as required by Maryland law, according to the release.

The nine-member commission — which includes three Democrats, three Republicans and three unaffiliated voters — is set to start a new round of public hearings on Sept. 9. That hearing will be virtual.

The commission worked with Stanford Law School professor Nathaniel Persily to hash out some rough criteria for maps on Wednesday. Although the commission won’t make its redistricting proposal for some time and will consider citizens’ proposals, members said they hope to have some early drafts ready for public comment by next week.

Commission members also mulled whether to keep the Eastern Shore whole or cross the Chesapeake Bay to create a district consisting of part of Southern Maryland and the Lower Shore. Commission Member Kimberly Rose Cummings (R), a Dorchester County resident, noted that some Lower Shore residents told panelists, during an initial round of public hearings, that they have more in common with Southern Maryland residents than with residents of north and central Maryland.

There is historical precedent for crossing the Chesapeake Bay in a congressional district, as the state’s 1st Congressional District once included portions of Southern Maryland as well as the entire Eastern Shore from the early 1970s to the early 1990s. The 1st District currently includes all of Maryland’s Eastern Shore and portions of Baltimore, Harford and Carroll countries.

Commission Co-chair Alexander Williams Jr. (D), a Prince George’s County resident and retired federal judge, said that rapidly developing Charles County has more in common with parts of Prince George’s County than with other parts of Southern Maryland. Commission members chose to leave both options on the table for public comment and map submissions.

As for drawing a district in Western Maryland, commission Co-chair Walter Olson (R) said the panel should look to include Carroll County with Frederick, Garrett and Allegany counties. Olson and Williams served on an emergency commission to redraw the state’s 6th Congressional District before the Supreme Court reversed a 2018 order to redraw the district. Olson said that, during the emergency commission’s run, Carroll County residents “overwhelmingly” asked to be included in a Western Maryland district.

Whether the Western Maryland district would draw from portions of northern Montgomery or Howard counties remains an open question for commission members.

None of the commission’s initial criteria are set in stone, rather they are meant to be a baseline for public comment during upcoming public hearings.

Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) created the Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission via executive order to draw congressional and legislative maps that he will propose to the General Assembly. Democrats hold a veto-proof majority in both the House of Delegates and the Senate, and lawmakers will have the final say over the state’s next set of maps.

Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) and House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones (D-Baltimore County) created their own bipartisan redistricting commission, the Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission, to draw congressional and legislative maps. The legislative commission held its first meeting this week and is set to kick off a statewide round of public hearings on Sept. 20 with a hearing focused on Prince George’s County.

By Bennett Leckrone

Legislative Redistricting Commission Promises Transparent Process at First Meeting

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Maryland’s General Assembly will have the final say over the state’s next set of congressional and legislative maps, and legislative leaders’ bipartisan redistricting commission held its first meeting Tuesday evening.

The Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission, convened by Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) and House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones (D-Baltimore County), will conduct public hearings before proposing congressional and legislative maps. Karl Aro, former executive director of the non-partisan Department of Legislative Services, is the commission’s chair.

The Department of Legislative Services will be responsible for drawing maps based on the commission’s input, Aro said. He said the map drafts will be confidential until the commission is ready to release its proposal to the public.

Jodie Chilson of the Department of Legislative Services said that any member of the General Assembly will be able to request a map be drawn.

“Any request that comes to us for that would be confidential even with respect to the commission,” Chilson said. “Once the map is drawn and you get it, you can do with it what you want, but as we’re drawing it that would be confidential.”

The departments of Planning and Legislative Services finalized data to be used for redistricting on Tuesday, Legislative Services Senior Policy Analyst Michelle Davis told members of the panel. The U.S. Census data used for redistricting was released last month, but state officials needed to adjust that data to comply with Maryland law, which requires that incarcerated people are counted as residents of their known address. She said that data will be available to the public soon.

Senate Minority Leader Bryan W. Simonaire (R-Anne Arundel), a member of the panel, pressed for a bipartisan map-drawing process, and said he hopes commission members work together when it comes to creating a single, cohesive map.

“We’re not in the majority and don’t pretend to be there, but I would like to be included as opposed to Republicans going off and doing their maps, Democrats going off and doing their maps,” he said.

Simonaire noted that after the 2010 Census, Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) created a redistricting commission to conduct public hearings, but according to depositions from the Benisek v. Lamone case, most map-drawing during that process was done away from the public eye by political operatives and incumbents.

“We ended up with some of the worst maps in the nation … especially on the congressional side,” Simonaire said.

Aro said he hopes the legislative commission will produce a map that makes people feel that their communities are largely kept whole, but warned that some areas will likely have to be split due to how complex the process is. He likened redistricting to “doing brain surgery with a sledge hammer.”

“My hope too is that the geography will look, for lack of a better word, prettier,” Aro said. “It should. I imagine we’ll just have to work our way through it.”

Ferguson said public input will be “absolutely essential” to the commission’s work and pledged a transparent process.

“We will have a fair and transparent process, and in order for that to happen we need to hear from the public,” Ferguson said.

Jones likewise underscored the importance of public input.

“For those Marylanders watching this online, we are asking you to show up at our hearings, write us letters, and send us your ideas,” Jones said. “We are listening.”

Jones also acknowledged that the redistricting debate likely won’t end when the General Assembly adopts maps.

“There’s a good chance that these maps will end up in court,” she said. “That is the nature of redistricting. We will follow the advice of counsel at every step, making sure that the rights of all Marylanders are protected.”

The Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission will conduct region-based and statewide public hearings in the coming months, and will kick off with a public hearing in Prince George’s County on Monday, Sept. 20. The location of that meeting wasn’t immediately available, but the meeting will be live streamed.

Other lawmakers on the commission are Senate President Pro Tempore Melony Griffith (D-Prince George’s), House Majority Leader Eric Luedtke (D-Montgomery) and House Minority Leader Jason Buckel (R-Allegany).

The Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission is one of two panels tasked with conducting public hearings and drawing up a proposed set of congressional and legislative maps in the coming months: Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) created the Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission earlier this year to create maps that he will propose to the General Assembly.

That commission includes three Republicans, three Democrats and three unaffiliated voters, and completed one round of public hearings before the release of U.S. Census data in August.

Hogan plans to introduce both the congressional and legislative maps that are drawn by the Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission. The governor is required to introduce legislative maps, but statutes are silent on who is responsible for introducing congressional maps. The General Assembly is allowed to make changes to those maps and draw their own.

While both commissions are tasked with drawing up maps, the ultimate authority for mapmaking in Maryland rests with the General Assembly, where Democrats hold a veto-proof majority in both the House of Delegates and the Senate.

Hogan can veto only congressional maps, although lawmakers easily overrode his vetoes on such measures as police and education reform during the 2021 legislative session. He can’t veto the General Assembly’s legislative maps, but his proposed maps would become law if the General Assembly doesn’t pass a redistricting plan within the first half of the 2022 legislative session.

At a media briefing ahead of the legislative panel’s first meeting Tuesday, Simonaire and Buckel reiterated their support for Hogan’s Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission.

“The best way to do redistricting is in a bipartisan or nonpartisan fashion, letting the citizens drive the redistricting process rather than the politicians in the back room,” Buckel said.

Simonaire previously predicted that the legislative commission’s final vote would come down to a party-line split. He said Tuesday that he remains “skeptical” of the legislative redistricting commission.

Congressional maps could be adopted by the General Assembly later this year, with legislative leaders considering a special session in December to tackle congressional redistricting.

By Bennett Leckrone

Md. Citizens Redistricting Commission Brings on National Election Law Expert as Consultant

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The Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission is bringing on Nathaniel Persily, a nationally recognized expert on redistricting, to help draw up their congressional and legislative maps.

Commission Co-chair Walter Olson, a senior fellow at Cato Institute’s Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies, announced at a Wednesday night meeting that Persily would serve as the panel’s adviser. He called Persily an “eminent” figure in the field of redistricting.

Redistricting expert Nathaniel Persily

Persily, the James B. McClatchy Professor of Law at Stanford Law School, previously served as a court-appointed expert for the redrawing of Maryland’s legislative plan in 2002. He has also been appointed by courts to help redraw legislative or congressional districts in Connecticut, Georgia, New York and North Carolina.

Persily will serve as the commission’s chief map-drawer and resident redistricting expert, and will use the panel’s input to craft congressional and legislative maps.

Persily is advising commissions across the country as part of the current round of redistricting — including the Prince George’s County Redistricting Commission. His role will be paid, Department of Planning spokeswoman Kristin Fleckenstein said in an email, but an exact funding figure wasn’t immediately available Wednesday night.

The multi-partisan Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission was created by Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) to draw up congressional and legislative maps that he will propose to the General Assembly. Lawmakers will have the final say over what the state’s next set of maps look like, and Democrats hold a veto-proof majority in both the House of Delegates and the Senate.

House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones (D-Baltimore County) and Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) announced their own bipartisan redistricting commission earlier this summer. That commission is chaired by former Department of Legislative Services Executive Director Karl Aro, who was appointed alongside Persily to redraw the state’s legislative maps after a 2002 lawsuit overturned the state’s legislative map.

Both of the commissions are planning to hold public hearings after Census redistricting data is adjusted to comply with Maryland law by having incarcerated individuals reallocated to their last known address. Fleckenstein said at the meeting that the data is expected to be ready next week.

By Bennett Leckrone

General Assembly Leaders Announce Legislative Redistricting Commission

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The Maryland General Assembly has launched its own commission to draw new congressional and legislative district maps.

Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) and House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones (D-Baltimore County) announced the Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission and its members in a Thursday press release.

The bipartisan commission will be chaired by Karl Aro, the former executive director of the non-partisan Department of Legislative Services. Ferguson and Jones will also sit on the commission, alongside four other lawmakers:

  • Senate President Pro Tempore Melony Griffith (D-Prince George’s County);
  • House Majority Leader Eric Luedtke (D-Montgomery County);
  • Senate Minority Leader Bryan W. Simonaire (R-Anne Arundel County); and
  • House Minority Leader Jason Buckel (R-Allegany County).

Commission members will “focus on developing new map configurations to best account for Maryland’s seven percent population growth,” according to the release.

Jones and Ferguson pledged a bipartisan and transparent redistricting process in Thursday’s release. The commission will hold 10 in-person town hall meetings across the state and two virtual meetings beginning in August. Those meetings will be live-streamed, according to the release.

Jones said in the release that the commission’s goal will be to “ensure that Maryland’s representation reflects its citizens.”

“The General Assembly will pass fair maps based on the robust public engagement and feedback of this Commission,” Jones said.

Ferguson said public input will be a virtual part of the commission’s work.

“We believe it is critical to hear from those we represent, and the Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission serves as the General Assembly’s vehicle to hear from Marylanders across the State in a bipartisan and transparent manner before proposing maps for the Legislature to consider,” Ferguson said in a written statement. “The Commission is an essential step in the redistricting process to ensure fair representation for Maryland’s democracy.”

The commission’s formation comes as the multi-partisan Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission — formed by Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan (R) earlier this year to draw up maps he will propose to the General Assembly — is already conducting a round of public hearings ahead of the release of Census redistricting data.

That nine-member commission, made up of three Republicans, three Democrats and three non-affiliated voters, has held hearings for the Baltimore City and Harford and Anne Arundel Counties, the Eastern Shore and the western, northern and southern regions of the state. During those hearings, residents have repeatedly urged commission members to keep communities whole in proposed maps.

“Governor Hogan has handed over his power to a citizens advisory commission to ensure it’s the people of Maryland who are drawing the maps — not politicians or party bosses in back rooms. The citizens commission has already held several public meetings across the state, gaining direct input from Marylanders,” Hogan spokesman Michael Ricci said Thursday evening.

Former Howard County Executive Allan Kittleman (R) and former state Sen. James Brochin (D-Baltimore County) – who recently formed the group Fair Maps Maryland alongside former Hogan communications strategist Doug Mayer to urge the General Assembly to adopt maps from the Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission, criticized the formation of the legislative commission in a Thursday statement.

“This is real simple – politicians shouldn’t be drawing their own districts and picking their own voters, and unfortunately this new commission does exactly that,” the pair said.

Joanne Antoine, the executive director of the fair elections group Common Cause Maryland, said she would’ve liked to see members of the public on the legislative commission, but added that she was encouraged by the General Assembly’s move to hold public hearings.

“I think this is a great opportunity for Marylanders to not only provide input on their communities, but more importantly highlight how the General Assembly has failed them to some extent,” Antoine said.

Antoine had hosted a virtual Tame the Gerrymander event to promote public participation in the redistricting process just before the legislative commission was announced. Tame the Gerrymander — a coalition of advocacy organizations pushing for fair maps in Maryland — is currently mounting a campaign to get the public involved in the process.

At that event, advocates stressed that public input will be key in the state’s redistricting process, and urged Marylanders to participate. Fred McBride, a redistricting and voting rights policy specialist for the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, encouraged residents to use free mapping tools like Districr to draw up their own maps and come up with concrete suggestions.

“It’s no longer something we have to sit back and watch and wait for,” McBride said, “It’s something we should be participating in.”

Antoine said in an interview that the dueling commissions may confuse residents, and said she thinks the work of both commissions will be important in the coming months.

“Ultimately the decision is in the hands of the lawmakers,” Antoine said. “The work of the (Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission) is important, and the feedback they’re collecting is just as important too, but I think the members of the General Assembly need to hear from the public.”

The maps the Citizens Redistricting Commission draws up and Hogan proposes will ultimately be subject to approval from the General Assembly, where Democrats hold a veto-proof majority in both the House of Delegates and the Senate.

Exactly what the maps drawn up by either commission will look like remains to be seen, although Hogan laid out several requirements for maps in his executive order creating the commission, including incorporating single-member districts into their proposed maps to the extent possible.

By Bennett Leckrone

Maryland Faces ‘Extreme’ Threat of Gerrymandering, New Report Says

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Maryland is under “extreme” risk for gerrymandering when lawmakers draw up new election districts, according to a new report from an anti-corruption watchdog group.

The Gerrymandering Threat Index from the nonprofit group RepresentUs lists Maryland, alongside 26 other states, in the highest risk category for gerrymandering. States are listed under the group’s “extreme” risk category for giving “politicians complete control over an often-secretive, poorly-protected redistricting process.”

RepresentUs considered five questions when determining a state’s threat level for gerrymandering:

  • Can politicians control how election maps are drawn?
  • Can election maps be drawn in secret?
  • Can election maps be rigged for partisan gain?
  • Are the legal standards weak?
  • And, are rigged election maps hard to challenge in court?

The report cites Maryland’s Democratic supermajority as a flag for potential gerrymandering, since the state relies on the legislature to approve maps. Maryland’s governor initially crafts congressional and legislative maps that are presented to the General Assembly. Lawmakers can pass a resolution (not subject to veto) changing the legislative districts. The Maryland Constitution sets some requirements for legislative districts, including that they must be compact and give “due regard” to jurisdictional boundaries.

Congressional district maps aren’t subject to the same restrictions under the Maryland Constitution. The governor can veto the legislature’s proposed congressional district map —but lawmakers could override a veto from Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R), as they’ve done on several key pieces of legislation during the 2021 session and throughout his tenure.

Hogan has repeatedly attempted to create a bipartisan redistricting process since he took office, but his efforts have failed to pass the General Assembly. In January, he signed an executive order creating a bipartisan commission to make recommendations for the congressional and legislative maps that he will submit to the legislature ahead of the 2022 election.

Attempts to challenge the state’s congressional districts in court have also failed, with the U.S. Supreme Court declaring in 2019 that federal judges shouldn’t be the ones to settle disputes on gerrymandering.

That high court ruling came after a panel of federal judges ordered the state’s 6th Congressional District redrawn, arguing that the district had been unconstitutionally drawn to benefit Democrats.

Rep. John P. Sarbanes’ (D-Md.) omnibus election reform proposal, the For the People Act, would include a congressional redistricting overhaul and ban partisan gerrymandering. The sweeping reforms would also require states to use bipartisan, independent commissions to draw district lines.

The RepresentUs report lists the For the People Act as a “remarkable opportunity” to end federal gerrymandering.

“Ultimately, a system-wide crisis calls for a system-wide solution,” the report reads.

In all, the Gerrymandering Threat Index lists 35 states as having a high or extreme risk for partisan gerrymandering in the next round of redistricting. Two of Maryland’s neighboring states, Delaware and West Virginia, are also listed as having an “extreme” risk for gerrymandering. Pennsylvania is given a “moderate” rating, and Virginia a “low” rating.

Virginia voters last November approved a nonpartisan redistricting process.

By Bennett Leckrone