Bartlett still plans to run in new 6th District

A new congressional redistricting plan for Maryland, with a reshaped 6th District, won't dissuade Republican U.S. Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett from running for an 11th term, his office said Wednesday.

The plan — which the Maryland House of Delegates approved Wednesday — pulls more of Democrat-heavy Montgomery County into the 6th District.

The state Senate approved substantially the same redistricting plan on Tuesday, but needs to approve it again to fix typographical errors, according to The Associated Press.

Lisa Wright, a spokeswoman for Bartlett, released the following statement from him on Wednesday, in response to a question from The Herald-Mail:

"At a time of the lowest approval rating of Congress in our recorded history, developing a redistricting map that accurately reflects the changes and shifts in population in Maryland and strengthens the confidence and trust of Marylanders in their representative in Maryland's delegation in the United States Congress should have been the highest priority. With 45% of Marylanders now minorities clustered in the city of Baltimore and in the suburbs of Baltimore and Washington, D.C., it was self-evident that there should be a new third majority minority district.

"Unfortunately and obviously, these were the lowest priorities for the mapmakers in Annapolis. It is disappointing that Maryland residents who chose to live in communities and counties with concentrations of minorities and agricultural areas were sliced and diced in the Governor's map to dilute their votes and their influence on members of Maryland's delegation and in the U.S. Congress.

"I filed for re-election in June and approval of this map hasn't changed my plans to seek re-election to represent the residents of Maryland's Sixth District in the U.S. House of Representatives."