Redistricting in Md. has element of racial friction - The Washington Post: Few states’ delegations in the House of Representatives pack the political punch of little blue Maryland. Among its eight members is a Democratic juggernaut: the House minority whip and ranking members of the powerful budget, intelligence and oversight committees.
The eight also stand out as collectively far more white than the Maryland they have come to represent, the 2010 Census showed. Just a quarter of the state’s representatives are African American even though minorities, most of them blacks, now make up nearly half of the state’s population.
As Maryland’s redistricting process begins, African Americans in and out of state government are increasingly split over whether their top priority should be to push to redraw lines to ensure better representation for blacks or to protect Maryland’s white incumbents because of the coveted positions of power they have attained on Capitol Hill.
