6th District

ANNAPOLIS — State Sen. Joe Getty, a Republican who represents parts of both Carroll and Baltimore counties in the state's 5th Legislative District, this week said he will introduce a bill during the special session of the General Assembly to "preserves the current configuration of the 6th Congressional District. " The congressional plan and a state legislative plan, are to be the subjects of the session, which starts Monday, Oct. 17, in Annapolis. Carroll County is now represented by the 6th Congressional District, whose current congressman is Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R)

Maryland Republicans criticized a proposal Tuesday to redraw the state's congressional map, saying a Democratic-controlled panel seeking to bolster the party's position would separate communities with like-minded views and fuse areas with little in common. Some Democrats also expressed concern that the map that would add conservative voters to a heavily African-American district in the Washington suburbs now represented by the state's only black congresswoman. Gov. Martin O'Malley, who appointed the five-member committee that drew the map, said Tuesday that he would consider public comments submitted over the next seven days but that he intends to submit to the General Assembly Oct. 17 a map "that is substantially similar" to the one released by the committee Monday.

Since a redistricting commission presented its plans for new congressional maps to Gov. Martin O'Malley, two groups have been particularly vocal in their complaints that it dilutes minority votes: African-American and Hispanic Democrats, and Republican elected officials. The first camp includes Rep. Donna Edwards, a Democrat who is angry that she would lose a minority-heavy Montgomery County portion of her district and pick up many white areas in Anne Arundel County instead. The second includes state Sens.

A panel appointed by Gov. Martin O'Malley recommended a new political map Monday evening that would pack Democrats into a redrawn 6th Congressional District in Western Maryland, giving the state's majority party a shot at sending a seventh Democrat to Washington. The proposed map targets the 6th District representative, Republican Roscoe Bartlett, but would add GOP voters to the 1st Congressional District represented by the state's other Republican, Andrew Harris. "I think you will have a very competitive 6th District when you didn't have that in the past," said House Speaker Michael E. Busch, a member of the redistricting panel.

In 2001, when Gov. Parris N. Glendening appointed a five-member advisory commission on the redrawing of legislative and congressional district lines, some questioned whether the entire exercise — including a dozen public hearings — would all be for show. Some speculated at the time that it would not be the desires of the various communities about how they should be joined together in districts that would determine the final maps but, rather, cold political calculations made behind closed doors in the governor's office — calculations made to reward friends, punish enemies and, overall, get more Democrats into elected office.

Anyone wishing to gain insight into the 2010 election season should pay special attention to Baltimore County. Baltimore County is a bellwether for three reasons. First, like Maryland, Democrats enjoy a better than 2 to 1 advantage in voter registration. Second, Republicans run competitively at the local, legislative and congressional levels. Third, the proper alignment of circumstances occasionally produces surprising results. In 1990, voter unhappiness toward Democratic County Executive Dennis Rasmussen resulted in the election of Roger Hayden, the first Republican to hold that position since Spiro Agnew, as well as the election of three GOP councilmen.

Baltimore County : Lansdowne Woman fatally shot near her home A 22-year-old woman was shot in the head early yesterday near her home in Lansdowne and later died of her injuries, Baltimore County police said. Felicia Ann Spratley of the first block of Silerton Road died at Maryland Shock Trauma Center. According to police, a man went to Spratley's apartment, there was a confrontation, and Spratley fled. The man fired shots at another person in the apartment, then chased Spratley down a sidewalk and shot her. Police said an arrest warrant has been issued for Emory Lamont Lewis, 24, also of the first block of Silerton Road, in the killing.

Sharon Green Middleton was unanimously nominated by a committee yesterday to fill a vacancy on the Baltimore City Council for the 6th District for the rest of the year, a vote that all but guarantees she will be sworn in to the position next week. Middleton, 52, a Baltimore native who spent decades as an educator with Baltimore County's public schools and then the Maryland State Department of Education before retiring, had long been considered a leading candidate for the seat, which was vacated when Stephanie C. Rawlings-Blake became council president.

State Sen. Norman R. Stone Jr. sometimes jokes about the length of time he's been in public office. "It's been a great four years," he quipped at a candidates forum in Dundalk before the primary election. The crowd laughed, knowing that Stone has been in the state legislature more than four decades - longer than other Maryland state senator. Stone, a 71-year-old lawyer from Edgemere, has won 11 straight elections. In November, Stone's challenge comes from Bill "Kush" Kushnerick, a 55-year-old mechanic from Essex.