Maryland 3rd Congressional District

By: Zach Allentuck

The Washington Post called it the “second-most gerrymandered” district. Its shape is comical and unwieldly. It has been compared to a praying mantis. This is Maryland’s 3^rd Congressional District. Yet, when the topic of gerrymandering in Maryland arises, Maryland’s 6^th Congressional District receives an outsized amount of attention and focus. The focus on the 6^th makes some sense; it is the focus of a federal court case. Certainly, from a lawsuit perspective, focusing on a district where the incumbent lost his seat because of gerrymandering makes more sense than a district where the incumbent kept his seat. However, the 3^rd is still more gerrymandered, because it is a weirder shape and the margin of victory for Democrats in the 3^rd is higher than it is in the 6^th. It is good that both the current governor, Larry Hogan, and the former governor, Martin O’Malley, agree that the gerrymandering in Maryland is bad. However, they should speak out about the 3^rd specifically, because, as stated before, the 3^rd is more gerrymandered, and because it makes more political sense to focus on the 3^rd. The two should draw attention specifically to the 3^rd.