Update: The Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission voted on Nov. 23 to recommend a plan similar to Plan 2 (see maps below) to the Maryland General Assembly, as reported by Maryland Matters.

The Maryland General Assembly’s redistricting group released four draft congressional maps on Nov. 9, but critics say these maps show signs of continued gerrymandering.

The Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission (LRAC), established earlier this year by the legislature’s Democratic leadership, released the maps days after the state’s other redistricting commission delivered its maps to Gov. Larry Hogan (R).

The Maryland Citizens Redistricting commission was appointed by Hogan and presented its proposed congressional and state legislative maps to him earlier.

The citizens commission was made up of three Democrats, three Republicans, and three unaffiliated voters.

LRAC included four Democratic members of the legislature and two Republican members, and was chaired by Karl Aro, who formerly led the Department of Legislative Services.

In a statement on Nov. 10, Hogan shared his displeasure with the draft maps from the legislative commission, while touting the map delivered to him by the citizens commission as fair and not drawn by “partisan politicians.”

When the LRAC maps were released, Senate President Bill Ferguson and House Speaker Adrienne Jones issued a joint statement.

“We are pleased that LRAC is releasing four draft congressional maps now, providing the public with several weeks for input and reaction,” Ferguson and Jones wrote.

Maps from both commissions are expected to be considered in a special session of the General Assembly starting Dec. 6.

In a letter released with the maps, Aro wrote that the maps “to the extent practicable, keep Marylanders in their existing districts. Portions of these districts have remained intact for at least 30 years and reflect a commitment to following the Voting Rights Act [of 1965], protecting existing communities of interest, and utilizing existing natural and political boundaries.”

Aro went on seemingly to  acknowledge criticism of the congressional lines drawn in 2011, which went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that partisan gerrymandering is a political question “beyond the reach of the federal courts.”

“It is our sincere intention to dramatically improve upon our current map,” Aro wrote.

Those two intentions might be in conflict, according to Beth Hufnagel, who heads the redistricting team for the League of Women Voters of Maryland.

“I’m struggling a little bit with those two goals,” Hufnagel said.

Critics say improving upon a gerrymandered map doesn’t mean the drafts are perfect.

“The map beforehand was nationally recognized as one of the most gerrymandered maps in the country, so almost anything that isn’t as bad is better.”

That’s according to Todd Eberly, an associate professor of political science and public policy at St. Mary’s College of Maryland.

“This is what happens when you already have a pretty serious gerrymander, but you know that you’re under greater scrutiny because more people are paying attention,” Eberly said.

Eberly told Capital News Service that he believes the legislative commission wanted to make a map that looked “better” or less gerrymandered, while prioritizing protecting Democratic incumbents in Congress and maintaining partisan advantage.

The legislative commission’s four proposed maps vary in their treatment of different areas of the state, with noticeable potential changes to District 1, where Rep. Andrew P. Harris is the only Republican member of Maryland’s congressional delegation.

Eberly said two of the draft maps could change the partisan balance of the Eastern Shore district.

“I think both of the maps that take the first district and bring it across the bridge and into Anne Arundel County make the first district a much more competitive district, if not a district that actually favors a Democrat slightly,” Eberly said.

Eberly also pointed to Districts 3, 4, and 7, which he said, “continue to be pretty serious gerrymanders.”

District 2, according to Eberly, has been “cleaned up a little bit,” in some of the draft maps.

Cleaning up the map may not have gone far enough, according to Helen Brewer, a legal analyst with the non-partisan Princeton Gerrymandering Project.

“The shapes of the districts are definitely less compact” than those in the maps released by the citizens commission, Brewer said.

Of course, the shape of congressional districts isn’t the only way to evaluate whether gerrymandering has occurred.

Brewer said, “people in Maryland really are of course the experts on their own state,” and can evaluate how the proposed district lines interact with different cities and counties.

Geographic features like rivers and mountains can lead to districts that look odd on paper but keep communities of interest together, Brewer added.

LRAC worked to give different communities an opportunity to advocate for themselves in the map drawing process by holding meetings around the state.

Hufnagel, with the League of Women voters, said while she can’t point to specific examples from the wide range of speakers at the public meetings, “they have incorporated some testimony into their map choices.”

The presence of choices is both a positive and a negative for Hufnagel; she thinks having more than one option for now will be good, while the commission can take public input.

“We do hope… that they can narrow it down to one at the beginning of December,” Hufnagel said.

The differences between the citizens commission and legislative commission maps could come down to makeup of the commissions.

Brewer said the Princeton Gerrymandering Project generally prefers to see maps drawn by commissions independent of state legislatures.

The gerrymandering project scores maps based on partisan fairness, competitiveness, and geographic features. They have not yet released grades for the legislative commission’s maps.

 “Any time that legislators are involved in drawing maps … across both sides of the aisle, they are going to be incentivized to keep themselves or their party in power,” Brewer said.

Brewer said the citizens commission maps scored well on partisan fairness, which she said is consistent with maps from independent commissions.

“Those maps are not guaranteed to be the ones that will be enacted into law,” Brewer said.

Democrats hold a supermajority in the legislature, where the LRAC's maps may be more likely to pass.

More input on the maps is likely on the way.

Common Cause Maryland, a government watchdog group, said in a statement they are working with partner organizations to evaluate the draft maps based on their “impact on the voting power of historically marginalized Maryland communities, as well as partisan fairness, and traditional redistricting criteria.”

Federal law directs how states are able to consider race when drawing congressional maps.

Common Cause added it hopes the legislature will release updated reopening guidelines for the upcoming special session.

“We urge legislators to continue to make the redistricting process open and transparent by ensuring the session is accessible.”

The special session will include consideration of congressional maps.

State legislative and Senate districts are expected to be considered during the regular session in 2022.

The citizens commission presented draft state-level maps to the governor; the legislative commission has only released congressional drafts.

Draft Maps (click on LRAC maps for interactive version):

LRAC Map 1: Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission Draft Map 1. Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission.

LRAC Map 2: Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission Draft Map 2. Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission.

LRAC Map 3: Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission Draft Map 3. Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission.

LRAC Map 4: Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission Draft Map 4. Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission.

MCRC Map: The Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission submitted this draft congressional map

to Gov. Larry Hogan (R). Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission.



Capital News Service is a student-powered news organization run by the University of Maryland Philip Merrill College of Journalism. For 26 years, they have provided deeply reported, award-winning coverage of issues of import to Marylanders.