Maryland: Martin O’Malley Discusses Redistricting
Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) addressed his state’s redistricting process and the subsequent fallout from it at a breakfast briefing with reporters today.
“There were, of course, bumps and bruises and divisions. No one likes redistricting. There are no real winners,” he said at an event hosted by Third Way, a centrist think tank in Washington, D.C. He added a caveat that at times there are “coincidental or incidental” winners in redistricting.
The Democratic Member who most vigorously opposed the map that O’Malley eventually signed into law was Rep. Donna Edwards.
The seat that changed the most was the 6th district, currently represented by GOP Rep. Roscoe Bartlett. The district changed from being a Republican stronghold to a seat that favors Democrats, and Bartlett now finds himself in a serious fight for his seat against businessman John Delaney.
O’Malley, like most of the party establishment, endorsed state Senate Majority Leader Rob Garagiola over Delaney in the Democratic primary. O’Malley also did robocalls for him.
“But as far as the Democratic Party? I think we’ll all be pretty united behind John Delaney, who’s a very successful businessman,” O’Malley said. “I know him, he has been kind and helpful to me in both the of my two statewide campaigns.”
“I think he waged a much better campaign,” O’Malley added about Delaney. “I mean, he was better-funded. He was on the air more.”