Three-Judge U.S. District Court Strikes Down Maryland U.S. House District Boundaries

Ballot Access News ^ | November 7, 2018 | Richard Winger

[AuH2ORepublican]

I drew 4 that gave McCain a majority in the 2008 election and almost certainly would have given Romney a majority in 2012. All four included some rural areas, so I think they’d either give Trump majorities in all four or come pretty close to it.

1. Panhandle, Frederick County and some not so horrible portions of nothern Montco and western Howard

2. Carroll County, part of Baltco and part of Harford County (and a few marginal precincts in Baltimore city)

3. St. Mary’s County, Calvert County, almost all of Ann Arundel County (except for a few heavily Dem precincts up north) and the few remaining marginal precincts in eastern Charles County and eastern PG County

4. The Eastern Shore, the Chesapeake Bay part of Harford County, parts of Baltco, and I think a few marginal precincts in Baltimore city

The heavily RAT portions of Baltco and Ann Arundel County, and almost all of Montco, Howard, PG, Charles and Baltimore city, would be in four Democrat vote sinks. Three of them would have black majorities, thus making the map attractive to some liberals. Gov. Hogan should offer such a map to black Democrat state legislators and threaten to veto maps that do not “do justice to black Marylanders, who deserve to have three districts in which they can elect the candidate of their choice.”

[TBP]

Good map, though I think you stuck my part of AA into a Dhimmicrap district. Send it to Gov. Hogan and/or some black legislators.

[TBP]

Howard is kind of purple. AA is Republican-leaning, but with some strongly Democrat areas. The County Council is Republican, 3-2. The County Executive is a Republican whom I like.

[TBP]

Montgomery County is like Westchester County NY where I mostly grew up. The parts near the city are urban/suburban, but as you do upcounty you get more and more into the country. And it gets a little redder.

Unfortunately, both are pretty blue these days.

[TBP]

Which Anne Arundel precincts were you talking about leaving out of that district? I’m right where three counties come together.

[AuH2ORepublican]

I’d have to check the map I drew using “Dave’s Redistring App” (you can Google it), which I can’t see on my cell phone. Using 2010 Census data and 2008 presidential election results by precinct, the Ann Arundel- based CD could afford to drop its most heavily Democrat precincts up north. I’ll see if I can find my file tomorrow. Of course, with PG’s black population spreading to the entire county, maybe those Democrat Ann Arundel precicts would have to stay in the GOP-leaning Western Shore CD to get the population up to 12.5% of MD’s 2020 Census population.

[Freee-dame]

In 2012, Republicans in Maryland got the required number of signatures to petition to have the new legislative map go to referendum. They won this battle only to lose the battle of how to word the ballot initiative. The law required the districts to be approximately the same in number and contiguous. Some districts are connected by miles on a single road. Here is the ballot initiative:

Question 5 Referendum Petition (Ch. 1 of the 2011 Special Session) Congressional Districting Plan

Establishes the boundaries for the State’s eight United States Congressional Districts based on recent census figures, as required by the United States Constitution.

For the Referred Law

Against the Referred Law

Who would vote against this plan? After all, it is in accord withthe US Constitution. If there had been a map next to the words or if the local Baltimore Sun had published a picture of the legislative map, it would have been defeated. Very few people understood what was being described. Most people would like to be in a district with their own community and those near it, the exact opposite of this map.

[Impy]

Morella. She had the most liberal voting record of any Republican in Congress since....probably another Marylander, Mac Mathias.

But a 20/25% is the best we could ever hope for from from stinking Montgomery County.

[fieldmarshaldj]

Morella was just horrid. I was looking at her next-to-last-year in office, 2001, and she got a 12% Conservative rating, which was identical to Babs Mikulski. She even went so far as to file an amicus brief on “gay” marriage. At some point, you have to ask what you get electing people as Republicans virtually indistinguishable from the far-left of the Democrats. It was like losing Curbelo in FL, his record was just as horrid.

Charles Mathias hailed from Western MD, which made it all the more baffling that they’d elect such a far-left RINO from a Conservative district (which later elected Conservative Dem Goodloe Byron, and his widow, centrist Dem Beverly Byron, neither of whom could even be nominated as a Dem today - and indeed, she was defeated in the ‘92 primary and that allowed the superb Roscoe Bartlett to succeed her). Mathias was so bad, he got a 0% rating from the ACU in his last year in office in 1986 (which put him to the left of Babs Mikulski, who got a 5%). He passed on switching parties, though he could’ve become a Dem without blinking.