Democrats Rerun Redistricting Ruse

New Ferguson and Jones Redistricting Commission is Designed to Gerrymander

The existence of Governor Larry Hogan’s Redistricting Advisory Commission has not stopped Legislative Democrats from their loving embrace of partisan gerrymandering.

Senate President Bill Ferguson and Speaker Adrienne Jones have decided that they are not going to sit by and let the Governor’s Commission promote fair and balanced Congressional and Legislative Districts without putting up a fight:

The top Democratic leaders in the Maryland General Assembly unveiled a new seven-member commission to study redistricting as politicians gear up for the upcoming once-a-decade redrawing of the state’s election maps.

The Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission will hold a dozen public hearings across the state and weigh in with recommendations as lawmakers decide how to redraw the election lines for state legislative and congressional districts. Senate President Bill Ferguson, a Baltimore City Democrat, and Speaker Adrienne A. Jones, a Baltimore County Democrat, tapped Karl Aro, the former longtime head of the state’s Department of Legislative Services, to lead the panel.

The Sun went out of their way to point out that the Department of Legislative Services is an ostensibly nonpartisan agency, despite the fact that Karl Aro himself is a lifelong Democrat, just like most of the employees of DLS who serve at the pleasure of Democratic Legislative Leadership.

The interesting part of all of this is the ostensibly reasons, per Ferguson, why this commission now exists:

The legislative redistricting commission “serves as the General Assembly’s vehicle to hear from Marylanders across the State in a bipartisan and transparent manner before proposing maps,” Ferguson said in a statement. “We are confident that Marylanders will participate in this democratic process robustly to make their voices heard in the coming months.”

The panel’s “goal is to ensure that Maryland’s representation reflects its citizens,” said Jones. “The General Assembly will pass fair maps based on the robust public engagement and feedback of this commission.”

That’s….literally the point of the Governor’s Redistricting Advisory Commission. This is already happening, and yet Ferguson and Jones have decided that they need to have their own commission to come up with their own conclusions.

Of course, the conclusions of this commission are already baked in the cake. With five of the seven members of the Commission being Democrats, we already know that this Legislative Commission will continue to endorse the radical partisan gerrymandering that has been the hallmark of Maryland Democrats for decades. Political, racial, gender, and socioeconomic equality will again be sacrificed at the altar of Democratic establishment power.

The districts proposed by the Legislative Commission are going to look like this crap.

The Legislative Commission’s legislative districts will almost certainly include one, two, and three-member House Districts, notwithstanding the fact that the majority of Marylanders oppose such multi-member districts.

Just compare the Commissions and you can see the credibility difference between the two.

PARTY BREAKDOWN:

• Governor’s Commission: Three Democrats, Three Republicans, Three Independents

• Legislative Commission: Five Democrats, Two Republicans

ELECTED OFFICIALS:

• Governor’s Commission: Zero (of nine)

• Legislative Commission: Six (of seven)

The Governor’s Commission is a commission of citizens who have no stake in the game that are going to come up with fair and equitable districts that do not benefit themselves. The Legislative Commission is going to have its decisions made by five career partisan Democratic hacks, four of which are gunning to protect their phony baloney jobs.

It’s nearly comical to see the Democrats about face on gerrymandering in Maryland compared to the rest of the country. In a world where Democrats are deriding Republicans for partisan gerrymandering in states around the country, Maryland Democrats are hellbent on continuing their radical gerrymandering by any means necessary.

While the Governor’s Redistricting Advisory Commission is designed to help the people, the Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission is designed to help politicians. The difference could not be more clear.