Governor Wes Moore (D-MD) said Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that he was looking at redistricting in his state because President Donald Trump is attempting to “manipulate elections.”
Partial transcript as follows:
MARGARET BRENNAN: I want to ask you about something your party is tinkering with here, redistricting or gerrymandering, as some people know it. You’ve said you don’t like talking about it, but all options are on the table when it comes to your state. There’s only one- one seat here that is actually Republican, and it’s a seat held by Representative Andy Harris. Are you considering trying to redraw lines in Maryland?
MOORE: Yeah. When I say all options are on the table, all options are on the table.
BRENNAN: Are you actively looking at it now?
MOORE: Yeah, because, and I think- and I think we have to–
BRENNAN: You are?
MOORE: Yes, and I think- and I think we have to, because I think what’s happened is this is what people hate about politics in the first place, the fact that the President of the United States very similar to what he did in Georgia, where he called up a series of voter registrants and said, I need you to find me more votes. We’re watching the same thing now, where he’s calling up legislatures around the country and saying, I need you to find me more congressional districts.
BRENNAN: He’s doing it. That may be different, but Democrats redistrict, you know this, Gavin Newsom is doing it right now. A few years ago in New York, we saw this. This can backfire. Do you really want to go down this road?
MOORE: I want to make sure that we have fair lines and fair seats, where we don’t have situations where- where politicians are choosing voters, but that voters actually have a chance to choose their elected officials. We need to be able to have fair maps. And we also need to make sure that if the President of the United States is putting his finger on the scale to try to manipulate elections, because he knows that his policies cannot win in a ballot box, then it behooves each and every one of us to be able to keep all options on the table to ensure that the voters voices can actually be heard, and we can have maps.
BRENNAN: And you don’t think that one district where they represent- they have a Republican representative that they are actively being represented in Maryland?
MOORE: I think if you look at maps across the country, less than 10% of congressional seats are actually competitive by nature. Less than 10%. And so if you look at the average win margin in our state and so many states, the average win margin is upwards of 20 to 30% so that means we already have so many gerrymandered areas that we have to be able to add a measure of fairness in the way that it’s applied. And so yes, all options need to be on the table in the state of Maryland.
BRENNAN: And you’re looking at it, you said.
MOORE: Yes, we are.
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