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Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan called on the Department of Justice to file a lawsuit against his own state, claiming that its Democratic-controlled legislature violated the Voting Rights Act with its newly drawn congressional districts.
“On Monday, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that it is suing Texas over its new redistricting plan, alleging violations of the Voting Rights Act of 1965,” Hogan’s office said in a press release Thursday. “Today, Governor Hogan called on the Biden administration to immediately add the State of Maryland to that lawsuit.”
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan. (AP Photo/Brian Witte)
BIDEN JUSTICE DEPARTMENT SUES TEXAS OVER REDISTRICTING MAPS
While Hogan vetoed the legislature’s new map, Democrats hold a supermajority in both chambers of the statehouse and will likely move to override the veto.
“The congressional map drawn in back rooms by party bosses in Annapolis makes a mockery of our democracy, and it is an embarrassment to all that our state stands for,” Hogan said in a statement. “On behalf of all the people of Maryland who value fairness and integrity in our elections and in our political system, I am vetoing these disgracefully gerrymandered, illegal maps, which are a shameful violation of state and federal law.”
The fight over Maryland’s gerrymander comes after the DOJ filed a lawsuit against Texas over its newly drawn congressional districts, arguing that the Republican-controlled legislature’s new map violates the Voting Rights Act by disenfranchising minority voters.
Attorney General Merrick Garland.
(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Hogan said that Maryland’s congressional map is “more egregious” than the one in Texas, arguing that his state should be added to the DOJ lawsuit against Texas.
Republicans have accused the DOJ of acting in a partisan manner by suing Texas but not targeting states with Democratic-run legislatures such as Maryland, with Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, saying that the department is controlled by the Democratic National Committee.
“I think it is impressive how quickly the Department of Justice has shifted operational control to the Democratic National Committee,” Cruz said Tuesday. “Sadly, under Joe Biden, DOJ operates as a partisan arm to target red states rather than an impartial law enforcement agency.”
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton echoed Cruz’s remarks later Tuesday, accusing the Biden administration of wanting to “control over Republican states.”
Senator Ted Cruz. (REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo)
(Reuters)
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“They want to turn them into Democratic states, and they’ll do it any way possible – whether it’s doing damage to our economy by allowing illegals to come in that potentially cause crime and transport fentanyl, whether it’s the transmission of COVID from across the border,” Paxton said. “They’re all about allowing things and promoting things that hurt Republican states.”
The DOJ did not immediately return a Fox News request for comment.
