Ken Cratty

For years, Maryland was considered the poster child for extreme partisan gerrymandering in the nation. Our congressional districts were so unfair, twisted, and distorted that they became a punchline on every list of the worst-drawn maps in America. We appointed an independent, non-partisan redistricting commission that held hearings all across the state and heard the testimony of thousands of Marylanders. The legislature's extreme partisan maps were thrown out by the courts, and the legislature was ordered to redraw fairer maps. These are the ones we currently use today. Our fair maps took eight years to win in Maryland, and the effort received bipartisan praise across the country. Now, to ensure that their partisan, illegal maps can never be thrown out again, the monopoly in Annapolis is attempting to rewrite our state Constitution to clear the way for the same kind of maps that the courts already said violated the law. Let me be clear, the way I've been clear about this for decades: partisan gerrymandering is a cancer on our democracy, and it's wrong no matter who does it. Marylanders, regardless of party, should say NO to extreme partisan gerrymandering. NO to politics as usual. NO to being the worst in America. We are better than this. wbaltv.com/article/redistric…