District Lines

The next census is three years away, but the dogfight for dominance in the legislative redistricting process has begun.Redistricting is every political junkie's favorite parlor game. As 2000 approaches, the stakes are rising because the Republicans appear to have a chance to elect their first governor since Spiro T. Agnew.Recently, Larry Gibson, the political strategist for Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke and Prince George's County Executive Wayne K. Curry, endorsed Harford County Executive Eileen M. Rehrmann in the Democratic gubernatorial primary.

WASHINGTON -- What a mess. Instead of clarifying the sensitive issue of racial redistricting, the Supreme Court's latest decision only makes it more confusing. It invites states to be sued if they redistrict by race. It also invites states to be sued if they fail to redistrict by race.In a 5-to-4 decision, the high court struck down predominantly black and Hispanic congressional districts in Texas and North Carolina, ruling that state officials put too much emphasis on race when they drew their boundaries.

WASHINGTON -- What a mess. Instead of clarifying the sensitive issue of racial redistricting, the Supreme Court's latest decision only makes it more confusing. It invites states to be sued if they redistrict by race. It also invites states to be sued if they fail to redistrict by race.In a 5-to-4 decision, the high court struck down predominantly black and Hispanic congressional districts in Texas and North Carolina, ruling that state officials put too much emphasis on race when they drew their boundaries.

NAACP lawyers yesterday attacked the state's legislative district lines on the lower Eastern Shore, arguing that they polarize white voters against black candidates.The arguments marked the opening of a two-day trial in federal court, where the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is holding a microscope on the voting patterns in two state legislative districts that include Dorchester, Somerset, Wicomico and Worcester counties.Only nine blacks in those counties have ever been elected to any public office, said attorney Peter Forbes, who is representing the NAACP.

The president of Howard County's League of Women Voters asked the County Council last night to postpone action on a compromise redistricting plan until a map of the proposal can be circulated among interested voters."

The Howard County Council, long unable to compromise over a councilmanic redistricting plan, may have found a way to avoid turning the whole matter over to County Executive Charles Ecker to solve. With the balance of political power at stake, Democrats and Republicans on the council have spent months warring over various options for redrawing district lines to comply with the county's charter and the 1990 Census.The main battle ground is District 1, the seat currently held by Democratic Council Chairwoman Shane Pendergrass.

Perry Mason it was not.But for purists, the debate in Circuit Court on Monday about whether the County Council's redistricting plan should be overturned was just as fascinating.Maybe it was the politics -- Democrats and Republicans pitted against one another in a semantic dig through the county charter, the state constitution and various legal cases.Or maybe it was the all-star cast -- former U.S. Attorney General Benjamin R. Civiletti and former Georgetown law professor Roger Titus defending the council with help from Sondra Block, an associate from their Rockville office, and Charles A. Reese, attorney for the election board.

The County Council got its wish last week and became a defendant in a suit challenging its redistricting plan.The suit, brought by Republicans David P. Maier of Elkridge and Louis M. Pope of Laurel, will go to trial Aug. 31.Maier and Pope contend the redistricting plan approved by a 3-2 vote of the council last December is constitutionally invalid because the redistricting was done by resolution rather than through a bill.Although the council used both methods when district lines were first drawn in 1986, the suit contends that districting can only be accomplished by bill.

County Executive Charles I. Ecker, rebuffed in his suggestion that he and the County Council work together on a redistricting plan, has developed a plan on his own that if adopted could put three Republicans on the five-member council in 1994.The council has a 3-2 Democratic majority.Four of the current council districts remain virtually intact under the plan Ecker sent the council last week. The major change is in the 1st District, where Democrat Shane Pendergrass would lose precincts that supported her in the last election and gain precincts that voted Republican.

The Howard County Board of Elections decided yesterday to implement a controversial council resolution setting up new councilmanic districts for the 1994 election, said Frank T. Lupashunski, the board's president.The district lines will take effect Jan. 30, Mr. Lupashunski said. The board's two Democrats voted for the resolution, while its lone Republican voted against it. Local Republicans have said they may challenge the resolution in court.The council passed the resolution, which is not subject to an executive veto, on Dec. 2 after County Executive Charles I. Ecker vetoed a bill setting up the new districts.

After a lengthy labor, we can slap that 1st Congressional District baby on the bottom and declare: It's a Democrat. The close and contentious race finally produced a winner Tuesday when Andy Harris conceded and Frank Kratovil declared victory, shifting the conservative-leaning district from Republican to Democratic hands for the first time since 1991. If it's true that victory has many fathers but defeat is an orphan, the parentage of Kratovil's win would have to include sheer timing (it was a good year for Democrats overall)

Independent research led to vote Carroll County's delegation recently decided between two plans, Option One and Option Two, in setting five commissioner districts. The path to my decision was independent and deliberate in voting for Option One. Wanting to hear from the average voter, I conducted a survey of registered voters at two shopping centers in the Hampstead and Manchester area to find that only four out of every 10 even knew what I was talking about and most did not care how the districts were drawn.

CHICAGO - Arnold Schwarzenegger probably will never get to be president, but he may be able to do something far more ambitious, difficult and worthwhile: restore a measure of democracy to our democracy. In his State of the State address Wednesday, the California governor said he would convene the legislature to address several issues - one of them being the way the legislators hang on to their jobs. California draws congressional and legislative districts the way most states do, with those in power rigging things to stay in power.

IN MARYLAND politics, 2002 was the year of The Phone Call. Oh sure, it was also the year of The Map, the one that redrew legislative district lines. Without The Map - gleefully drawn to help allies and hurt foes - there might not have been a call. Without The Map and The Phone Call, who knows? Casper R. Taylor Jr. of Cumberland might still be speaker of the House of Delegates. Barbara A. Hoffman might still be chairman of a powerful legislative committee. The Republican Party of Maryland might still be in the wilderness.

Two Republicans are trying to loosen the Democratic stranglehold on power in western Baltimore County's 10th Legislative District -- an area that hasn't been represented by a Republican in the State House since 1962. Robbie Page, a retired moving company comptroller, is challenging Sen. Delores G. Kelley for the seat she's held for two terms. And Steven D'Arezzo, a 31-year-old draftsman, is trying to unseat one of three state delegates running for re-election in the district. Dels. Emmett C. Burns Jr., Adrienne A.W. Jones, and Shirley Nathan-Pulliam currently represent the area.

Today, The Sun continues its Sept. 10 primary endorsements today with a look at legislative races in districts 5B, 7, 10, 11, 12A and 42. IN NORTHERN Baltimore County, the district lines may change but the issues are always pretty much the same. Every candidate wants good schools, less congestion and sensible development. District 42: In this three-member district, which includes Towson, the Democrats have several strong candidates running. James W. Campbell, who moved to the county from the city so he could stay in a district he has represented since 1978, points out that he can offer continuity on a slate that has otherwise seen considerable turnover.

The Maryland Court of Appeals released yesterday its justification for its June ruling that held the state's redistricting plan unconstitutional and redrew the map in a way that drastically reduced Baltimore's power and influence in the legislature. Chief Judge Robert M. Bell's 103-page opinion criticized Gov. Parris N. Glendening's original redistricting plan for attempting to increase the number of legislative districts that crossed subdivision lines to 22, up from 18. "There is simply an excessive number of political subdivision crossings in this redistricting plan, such that it cannot be justified as necessary to meet federal constitutional and statutory requirements," Bell wrote.

The Maryland Court of Appeals released yesterday its justification for its June ruling that held the state's redistricting plan unconstitutional and redrew the map in a way that drastically reduced Baltimore's power and influence in the legislature. Chief Judge Robert M. Bell's 103-page opinion criticized Gov. Parris N. Glendening's original redistricting plan for trying to increase the number of legislative districts that crossed subdivision lines to 22, up from 18. "There is simply an excessive number of political subdivision crossings in this redistricting plan, such that it cannot be justified as necessary to meet federal constitutional and statutory requirements," Bell wrote.

THE COURT of Appeals giveth, and the Court of Appeals taketh away. Two weeks after calling Parris Glendening's redistricting map unconstitutional, implicitly declaring the governor manipulative and scheming, the state's highest court drew its own lines across Maryland's political sands, and unfortunately declared itself naive and out of touch. In its brief hour of insight, the court gave everyone lessons in civic selflessness. First, it said that Glendening and other high-ranking Democrats who put together the new legislative voting lines did so mainly to help their friends and punish their enemies.

As they pored over Maryland's new General Assembly map, longtime Baltimore lawmakers voiced outrage yesterday at a plan that weakens the city's influence in Annapolis and threatens to undermine the regional cooperation that officials have sought during the past decade. The plan drafted by the state Court of Appeals improves opportunities for African-Americans - who make up 65 percent of Baltimore's population - to be elected to the legislature from the city. But the court's plan reduces the total number of representatives from Baltimore.