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Shapiro Letter and Maps J,
K, and L
STEPHEN M. SHAPIRO n 5111 Westridge Rd., Bethesda, Maryland 20816 (301) 229-6241; [email protected]
November 8, 2021
Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission
Maryland General Assembly
Annapolis, Maryland 21401
Re: Final Submission of Congressional Maps J, K, and L
Dear Chairman Aro:
I appreciate having the opportunity to have testified before the Legislative Redistricting
Advisory Commission last Friday at Shady Grove. I hope you and the other members
found it useful.
Many of the other comments offered last Friday reinforced my thoughts that as many
Marylanders as possible should be comfortable in their assigned districts. That end is
supported by placing precincts and census blocks in districts consistent with their
partisan leaning. In this regard, I disagree with Governor Hogan—who has stated that
voting history should not be considered in redistricting. While such considerations can
be abused, they nevertheless can and should have a proper role in the process.
With that in mind, I have further refined my prior maps into three final offerings for the
Commission’s consideration:
• All three of these maps slightly even out the portions of Howard, Montgomery,
and Prince George’s Counties in District 3. This required moving 6,000 residents
in District 6 from Baltimore Co. to western Howard Co. District 3 as now
proposed includes 298,000 residents from Howard Co., 273,000 from Montgomery
Co., and 201,000 from Prince George’s Co. No one county is dominant.
• Districts 1 and 6 in Baltimore and Anne Arundel Counties now contain as many
precincts as possible that have a Democratic voting history near or under 30
percent.
o Map J splits District 1 between Baltimore and Anne Arundel Counties.
While this option captures the greatest number of strongly Republican
precincts within District 1, many of these precincts have contiguity only
over water. In several Baltimore County peninsulas, this results in the
outermost portion being in District 1, with the remainder in District 7.
District 7 in eastern Baltimore Co. focuses on the many precincts there
with large black populations.
2
o District 1 in maps K and L maintains contiguity over land (including
bridge crossings). This makes it counterproductive to split portions of
District 1 between both Baltimore and Anne Arundel Counties because
many residents of politically moderate precincts (e.g., the Broadneck
Peninsula near the Bay Bridge) must be included in order to maintain such
land or bridge contiguity. This would allow for fewer very conservative
precincts to be included in District 1 if that district is split between the two
counties while maintaining such higher contiguity. Map K puts all 55,000
District 1 residents (outside of Harford & Cecil Co. and the Eastern Shore)
into Anne Arundel Co. Map L places them all in Baltimore Co.
I recommend either Map K or Map L in light of their greater contiguity in District 1.
While having districts with contiguity only over water would be nothing new in
Maryland (such as in the current map), the greater area cohesion afforded by such
contiguity seems worth the cost, if any, of placing some highly conservative precincts
within Districts 2 and 7 (instead of in Districts 1 and 6).
I hope the Commission finds this helpful. I look forward to seeing one or more
prospective maps offered by the Commission for public comment next week.
Best regards,
/s/
Stephen M. Shapiro