Annapolis, MD—Today, the Maryland Democratic Party is calling on Governor Larry Hogan to explain to Maryland voters why his redistricting commission should be taken seriously—when Hogan himself appointed two commission members who were disqualified to serve by the criteria set forth in his own executive order creating the commission.
According to the Baltimore Sun, “when Hogan created the commission, his executive order stated that no lobbyists — past or present — could participate. The order also stated that commission members, all of them volunteers, had to be registered voters in the state of Maryland for at least three years.” Hogan appointed both Kathleen Jo Parsons Tabor, who registered as a lobbyist in Maryland in 2014, and Matthew Lee Douglass, who registered to vote in Maryland just last year, in clear violation of the rules outlined in his executive order. The two disqualified commission members only resigned their positions last week after the violation was pointed out by the Baltimore Sun.
Following these resignations, Maryland Democratic Party Chair Dr. Maya Rockeymoore Cummings has released the following statement:
“After learning that Larry Hogan appointed two commission members who are disqualified to serve on the redistricting commission by the criteria of his own executive order, it is clear that Hogan set up a sham commission designed to increase the number of Republicans in Congress who will protect and advance Donald Trump’s agenda.
If Hogan staffs his sham commission with, by his own standards, fake commissioners, then why should Marylanders treat any of its recommendations seriously?”