Politics

National Democrats Intervene To Protect Gerrymandered Maps In Maryland

(Photo by Andrew Harrer-Pool/Getty Images)

Dylan Housman Deputy News Editor
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The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) is preparing to wage a legal battle to protect gerrymandered Congressional maps in the state of Maryland, Fair Maps Maryland announced Monday.

According to Fair Maps Maryland, an organization aligned with Republican Gov. Larry Hogan which seeks to end partisan gerrymandering in the state, the DCCC filed a motion to intervene in ongoing litigation over Democrats’ proposed Congressional maps. If granted, the DCCC would become a legal defendant in the case on the side of defending the gerrymandered maps.

The motion was filed by attorney Marc Elias, former general counsel to the 2016 Hillary Clinton campaign and founder of Democracy Docket, a website dedicated to covering election law news from a progressive perspective.

Elias has been an outspoken critic of gerrymandering done by Republicans in states like North Carolina, but would now be defending gerrymandering done by Democrats if the motion to intervene is granted. (RELATED: Experts Give Democrats ‘F’ Grade For Trying To Further Gerrymander Maryland Congressional Maps)

The Republican State Leadership Committee recently launched a new ad campaign targeting Democrats for hypocrisy on the issue of gerrymandering. Obama-era Attorney General Eric Holder has been a leading critic and activist against Republican gerrymandering across the country, but has been silent on gerrymandering in blue states like Maryland.

President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice is engaged in several lawsuits to liberalize election laws and eliminate gerrymandering done by Republicans, but Attorney General Merrick Garland has taken no such legal action in blue states like Maryland, Illinois or Oregon.