BALTIMORE — Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan vetoed a new set of congressional district maps Thursday, but the Democrat-led Legislature planned to swiftly override the veto.
The Republican governor took out his veto pen before reporters during a State House news conference, making a public show of opposition to the map, and calling on the Department of Justice to add Maryland to a federal lawsuit filed earlier this week challenging congressional maps drawn by the Republican-controlled Legislature in Texas.
“These gerrymandered maps will be challenged in both the federal and state courts. These maps disenfranchise voters, they violate the Voting rights Act, and they are in violation of numerous state and federal laws,” Hogan said.
“The courts will be the final arbiter, not partisan legislators. These maps cannot and will not stand.”
General Assembly leaders had already scheduled for sessions of the House of Delegates and state Senate shortly after the news conference, with the intention to overturn the veto and put the maps into law. The next step is likely to be a court challenge from Fair Maps Maryland, an anti-gerrymandering advocacy group run by a longtime Hogan political adviser.
The new map preserves the Democratic dominance in Maryland, with that party likely to retain control over seven of the eight congressional seats in the state. And the one district that’s currently represented by a Republican, the Eastern Shore-based 1st Congressional District represented by U.S. Rep. Andy Harris, becomes somewhat more competitive.
The map was drawn and endorsed by a committee of lawmakers where Democrats outnumbered Republicans, and it was efficiently marched through the legislative process during a special session of the General Assembly this week.
States are required to redraw their electoral maps once every decade to adjust for population changes since the last census and ensure that voters have roughly equal say in electing politicians to the U.S. House of Representatives.
Republicans mounted a series of arguments against the map, including noting that while the districts look marginally better than the old map, they still are confusing and connect far-flung communities that have little in common.
Republican lawmakers attempted to substitute a map drawn by a commission appointed by Hogan. The commission, comprised of an equal number of Republicans, Democrats and independents, drew neat lines keeping many counties intact. Those efforts failed on party-line votes.
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