Kipke, Loudon Discuss Congressional Redistricting

Delegate Nicholaus Kipke (R-Pasadena) is still hopeful that enough people will sign a petition calling for a referendum on Maryland’s congressional redistricting plan by Sunday.

The , however, was still 10,000 short of meeting the required 58,000 signatures as of Wednesday.

“If we do not have enough names by Sunday, there is nothing we can do,” Kipke wrote in an email to Patch. “We'll just have to deal with these districts for the next ten years, and I believe that would be a real shame. However, I am optimistic that we'll be successful."

expressed her frustrations with the new map as well.

“Politicians chose voters instead of the voters choosing the politicians,” Loudon said.

She added that the map was “fixed” in a way that, except for in the 1st Congressional District, Republicans can’t win.

Maryland’s 4th District used to represent portions of Montgomery and Prince George’s counties. The newly redistricted district will represent parts of Anne Arundel County, including Pasadena, and portions of Prince George’s County.

“In Anne Arundel County no one congressman will have any real sense of responsibility to the area,” Kipke wrote. “Four congressmen will represent small slivers of the county. Also, their districts are drawn to ensure that only a democrat can win there making them less likely to represent people and instead just ‘carry the party line’ instead of doing the work of the people.”

The petition is available online: https://mdpetitions.com/redistricting.