Montgomery County Democrats Host Redistricting Press Conference // Officials Want "Hard Look" at Maps

Check out this photo from the press event on Facebook.

UPDATE: The Washington Post has this coverage of the MoCo pols' complaints: "...they are raising the political stakes by complaining that the plan is unfair to blacks, Latinos and Asians in Montgomery, where the latest census shows minorities together have become the majority."

Montgomery County Council's press office today released an email announcing a press conference about Maryland's proposed Congressional redistricting plan. The alert came with a map and a press release. We re-print both below:

From: Greenberger, Neil
Sent: Monday, October 10, 2011 4:56 PM
Subject: Montgomery Council joins community members in asking for hard look at proposed Maryland Congressional redistricting on Tuesday, Oct. 11

Members of the Montgomery County Council will be joined by members of the Maryland General Assembly and community leaders at 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 11, to request a hard look at Maryland’s proposed Congressional redistricting plan. Montgomery County Council President Valerie Ervin and Councilmembers Phil Andrews, Marc Elrich, Nancy Floreen, Nancy Navarro, Hans Riemer, and Craig Rice are among those expected to attend the event that will be held in the Third Floor Hearing Room of the County Council Office Building at 100 Maryland Ave. in Rockville. [NOTE: Proposed redistricting map attached.]

Neil H. Greenberger
Legislative Information Officer
Montgomery County Council

Montgomery County Councilmembers, State Delegates and Community Leaders to 

Request Hard Look at Propose Maryland Congressional Redistricting Plan

At News Conference in Rockville on Tuesday, Oct. 11, 

They Will Outline Serious Questions Raised by Proposed Plan

ROCKVILLE, Md., October 10, 2011 — Members of the Montgomery County Council will be joined by members of the Maryland General Assembly and community leaders at 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 11, to request a hard look at Maryland’s  proposed Congressional redistricting plan.

Montgomery County Council President Valerie Ervin and Councilmembers Phil Andrews, Marc Elrich, Nancy Floreen, Nancy Navarro, Hans Riemer, and Craig Rice are among those expected to attend the event that will be held in the Third Floor Hearing Room of the County Council Office Building at 100 Maryland Ave. in Rockville.

Others expected to attend the event are Montgomery Delegates Susan Lee (District 16) and Ana Sol Gutierrez (District 18) and Prince George’s Delegate Aisha Braveboy (District 25).  Also attending will be Elbridge James, Political Director of the Statewide NAACP, and leaders of the African American, Asian, and Latino communities.

“The Governor’s Redistricting Advisory Committee’s proposed plan raises three fundamental questions,” said Council President Ervin. “First, are the proposed districts really based on community of interest?  Second, would the plan lead to effective representation for the nearly one million residents of Montgomery County? Third, does it adequately address the concerns of minority communities statewide?

“The proposed plan raises serious questions in all these areas,” she said. “For example, Montgomery County is now a majority-minority community, but the proposed plan makes it virtually impossible to elect a minority candidate to Congress from Montgomery County for the foreseeable future.”

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