Commission could force Dems’ hand

Last week, Gov. Larry Hogan threw down the gauntlet on redistricting. To support a federal court decision that Maryland’s congressional districts violated the First Amendment rights of Maryland voters, Hogan announced that he was appointing a nine-member, non-partisan redistricting commission to redraw the unconstitutional districts. The commission will bring together three Democrats, three Republicans, and three unaffiliated voters. For the first time, redistricting will need a true multipartisan consensus.

This is absolutely the right thing to do. For far too long redistricting has been held in the hands of the Maryland Democratic Party. Redistricting in Maryland has been less about providing representative congressional and legislative districts, and more about maximizing the ability of Democrats to elect as many rabid, left-wing radicals as possible.

Attorney General Brian Frosh is going in a different direction on redistricting, however. Frosh is appealing the state’s case to the U.S. Supreme Court in an attempt to defend the Democrats hyperpartisan redistricting map.

Hogan has suggested that Frosh should recuse himself. Given Frosh’s rabid politicization of his job and the fact that he has turned the Maryland attorney general’s office into a de facto Democratic political shop through his constant lawsuits against President Donald Trump, Frosh is incapable of being an impartial broker. All of Frosh’s decisions are tinted through a partisan lens, including his decision to continue to this case that nakedly tries to keep a Democratic political advantage at taxpayer expense.

The appointment of the non-partisan commission gives voters an important view as to what the post-2020 census redistricting process is going to look like. State law gives wide latitude to the Governor to determine the makeup of the redistricting commission. Gov. Hogan has made non-partisan redistricting form one of the key objectives since the day he took office. This will be just as important a priority in his second term.

Though he continues to have a wide berth on redistricting based on the Democrats refusal to consider redistricting reform, Gov. Hogan has not pushed an advantage for partisan gain. He has proposed a fair multipartisan commission, to adjust the boundaries to meet the court’s requirements.

There is no reason to believe that the governor won’t make the same decision for the congressional and legislative redistricting when that time comes in 2021.

That’s where the political genius of Hogan’s commission is. Voters and taxpayers will see what districts drawn by a fair, independent, and non-partisan commission can look like.

This will put political pressure on Democrats to finally act on real reform. Legislative Democrats have been relying on faulty arguments to rebuff efforts to pass redistricting reform. Senate President Mike Miller has said that Maryland should not “unilaterally disarm” unless other districts pass redistricting reform.

Legislative leaders have pushed nonsense multi-state compacts that won’t bind Maryland to take action until other states also pass redistricting reform, a “reform” that expires in just over two years. Democrats will be hard-pressed to continue this charade of defending hyperpartisan redistricting once voters see how Governor Hogan’s independent commission draws fair congressional lines, and they will be unable to defend themselves once Governor Hogan proposes fair congressional and legislative districts in 2022.

Democrats have had their opportunity to act on redistricting reform. They have failed to do what’s best for Maryland every time. By appointing this independent commission, Hogan will hopefully have forced the Democrats hand and shame them into doing the right thing.