Sometimes you have to protect and fortify democracy by eliminating it. That’s the case over in Maryland where Republicans are an endangered species even though 34% of the state voted for Trump.
“At this moment, it seems very clear that self defense is something we have to put as a priority,” House Majority Leader David Moon warned, threatening to open redistricting to kill the single Republican seat left in Maryland.
In Maryland, where Trump won 34% of the vote, there are eight congressional seats with just one of them held by a Republican for 87% Democrat control. Moon is proposing 100% one party control.for numbers in line with Kim Jong Un’s numbers over in Moon’s neighboring North Korea
Senate President Bill Ferguson tried to explain why eliminating the one Republican seat is a terrible idea.
Ferguson noted that the state is a third Republican and the current Congressional map already disenfranchises most of them (1 out of 8 is a long way from a third) and hasn’t even been reviewed by the courts. Which is a good thing because gerrymandering is actually illegal under Maryland’s Constitution and bill of rights. If they go ahead and try to unrepresent 34% of the state, the courts can get involved and roll back their gerrymandering further.
Section 4 of the Maryland Constitution states that “each legislative district shall consist of adjoining territory, be compact in form, and of substantially equal population. Due regard shall be given to natural boundaries and the boundaries of political subdivisions ”
It was also noted that Article 7 of the Declaration of Rights states that “the right of the People to participate in the Legislature is the best security of liberty and the foundation of all free Government; for this purpose, elections ought to be free and frequent; and every citizen having the qualifications prescribed by the Constitution, ought to have the right of suffrage.”
But Gov. Wes Moore is determined to move the gerrymandering forward in a state already gerrymandered up the wazoo. He announced that he was “listening to Marylanders, and going all around and hearing where Marylanders are on this issue — but with a very firm understanding that, come next November, we will have fair maps.”
The only Marylanders he’s listening to are those that already agree with him and any notion of ‘fair maps’ that eliminates the one remaining Republican seat in a state where Trump won 34% of the vote is a grim cynical joke.
What comes next? It may be time to start treating those members of Congress elected through hyperpartisan gerrymandering as having an asterisk next to their names.
