The Republican governor of Maryland, Gov. Larry Hogan, is asking President Biden’s Department of Justice to file a lawsuit against his own state.
Biden’s DOJ recently filed a lawsuit against Texas over their recently drawn congressional districts, claiming that the Texas Republican-controlled legislature violated the Voting Rights Act by unfairly gerrymandering the state into districts favorable to the GOP.
But Maryland Gov. Hogan says that his own state’s Democrat-controlled legislature has done exactly the same thing. In fact, he says, Maryland Democrats gerrymandered their state far more egregiously to favor their own party. He is calling on Attorney General Merrick Garland to take action in his state, like was done in Texas.
On Friday, Hogan stated “In announcing the Texas lawsuit, Mr. Garland argued that a core principle of our democracy is that voters should choose their representatives, not the other way around. He’s right. The attorney general should sue Maryland, too.”
Hogan is a Republican in a very Democrat-controlled state. He has been unable to do anything about the Maryland Democrats’ gerrymandering because his veto was overruled.
“The congressional map drawn in back rooms by party bosses in Annapolis makes a mockery of our democracy, and it is an embarrassment to all that our state stands for,” Hogan said in a Dec. 9 statement [1]. “On behalf of all the people of Maryland who value fairness and integrity in our elections and in our political system, I am vetoing these disgracefully gerrymandered, illegal maps, which are a shameful violation of state and federal law.”
It remains uncertain whether Garland will respond to Hogan’s request.
The Maryland governor correctly points out that President Biden risks “sacrificing integrity” if his DOJ only investigates gerrymandering and redistricting in conservative states, while ignoring the same thing in blue states.
“Mr. Garland and the Biden administration can live up to their rhetoric by holding both parties accountable for discriminatory gerrymandering—or it can politicize the Justice Department by holding red states and blue states to different standards.”
Will Biden and Garland address the unfair gerrymandering going on in Maryland? Don’t hold your breath. This administration has shown itself to be the most partisan and power-hungry group to descend on Washington DC in decades.