Democrats to target Roscoe Barlett in redistricting? (Potomac, Annapolis: fit in, price)

[westsideboy]

Daily Kos: Maryland redistricting - Hoyer v Edwards

Looks like the Dems are going to try and redraw the Maryland's congressional districts to try and eliminate one (or both) of the incumbant Republicans. It seems Roscoe in District 6 is the target. The plan would be to create a 6th district that starts in the rural mountains of Western Maryland then snakes down the Potomac River all the way into the dense heart of Montgomery County where a majority of Democrats would keep the seat "blue" into the indefinite future.

I have never been a fan of Roscoe, but I am more concerned about the idea that a Montgomery County Democrat would be representing Western Maryland in Congress. Would Del. Van Hollen know anything about his new constituates? Would he even care to know if he doesn't need (or get) their votes?

There seems to me to be a HUGE discrepency in both idealogy and actual governmental wants and needs between a rich sprawling liberal area trying to slow down and control growth, and a large, sparsley populated poor area in desperate need of economic revitalization. I fear that Van Hollen would be more interested in representing the trees in Western Maryland than its people.

[cpterp]

It would be unwise for the Democrats to try and make the 6th blue (or purple which is far more likely). A much wiser move would be to just focus on the 1st District so Kratovil can take the seat back.

[North Beach Person]

If this does get pushed through, especially if a third majority-minority district is carved out, the map will end up in the Court of Appeals just like 10 years ago when Mike Miller tried to do the same thing then. It will get thrown out and the Court will draw the lines. Again.

It's going to be real hard to re-draw the 1st in such a way to get Kratovil back in. If they go back to the district of 20 years ago that would include Calvert and St. Mary's Counties, both fairly conservative and even trending Republican, especially Calvert where Democrats, Republicans and Independents each are around 33% of registered voters with the Independents usually voting "R". St. Mary's would pitch a fit in that case because Steny has them believing that he's the only reason that NAS PAX hasn't been BRACed out of existence. There may be some truth to that since flight testing would be easier at Edwards and a lot of the Navy testing has to be done there now because of the flight rules around PAX and the types of weapons being developed.

Throwing more of the 1st into Anne Arundel messes up the numbers and in any case they'd pitch a fit because they want an Anne Arundel only district. Now it's split between 4 districts.

It would be hard to divide the Eastern Shore between more than one District and expect it to pass Court review.

[westsideboy]

That really is the debate, do the Dems go for the 1st, the 6th or both? The Dems messed up the redistricting so badly in 2000 that the courts stepped in and it cost Speaker Taylor his seat as the court saw fit to add 4 big GOP dominated Washington Co. precincts into 1-C. I find the irony very deep that a Democratic plan to, as I remember it, get Dutch a safe seat in Congress ended up costing the Speaker his state seat to a Republican. We have been paying the price ever since. Allegany County has only one resident legistator in Annapolis, although State Sen. Edwards from Garrett Co. sticks up for us pretty well when he can.

I do fear Western Maryland being represented by a liberal Montgomery County Democrat in Congress. Would he/she take the time to learn that our community has very different problems than his/her suburban electoral heartland? Would he/she actively support ARC or other efforts that promote economic development in our area, even at the cost of some environmental rating point from the various lobbying groups? Roscoe's not great, but he does show up in town, march in the parades, and knows we exist.