The right of Carroll County citizens to govern themselves is and has been under attack by Maryland Democrats for some time now.
Our local elected officials voice concern, and perhaps write a pointed letter complaining about the latest usurpation of power, but as far as I can tell, that’s about as far as it goes.
Once again, they have the opportunity to push back in a meaningful way against what is appropriately called “the tyranny of the majority,” which exists here in Maryland.
According to the Carroll County Times, the Maryland Board of Education recently filed a proposed regulation that would permanently grant the state superintendent of schools the power to stay local actions for an “indefinite period.”
True to form, state delegates representing Carroll and Frederick counties responded by writing a joint letter to the Maryland BOE urging the “immediate withdrawal of a proposal to expand the state superintendent’s power to overrule local Board of Education decisions.”
The Times reported that in a letter to Maryland BOE Superintendent of Schools Carey Wright, Sen. Justin Ready and Dels. Christopher Bouchat, April Rose and Chris Tomlinson wrote that the move “would strip elected local boards of their autonomy,” which they say “seems to signal a foundational shift in governance that disregards election results and local public input, instead furthering the concentration of power in the hands of a statewide, appointed principal who is not even directly appointed by the governor, much less elected by the voters.”
Democrats have dominated Maryland politics for years. Even so, 16 of the state’s 23 counties voted for President Donald Trump in 2024.
Still, because of the preponderance of Democratic voters in the Baltimore-Washington region, Democrats hold supermajorities in the State Senate and House of Delegates. They also currently occupy the governor’s mansion. This gives Democrats enormous power, and they have shown they are not afraid to use it to force their agenda down the throats of Maryland counties whose citizens see things differently than they do.
Further, Maryland’s two U.S. senators are Democrats, as are all but one of the state’s delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives.
Given Democratic gerrymandering, it is all but certain the current Democratic domination of state politics will continue for the foreseeable future.
Ending gerrymandering in Maryland is a hallmark of Republican Maryland Delegate Chris Bouchat’s run for governor. One of the central components of Bouchat’s campaign is “ending the monopoly of power over the General Assembly by one single political party since 1920.”
“That can only be accomplished,” Bouchat says, “by ending gerrymandering by the speaker and Senate president.”
Bouchat advocates for a Citizen Redistricting Convention Amendment, which would strip the General Assembly of redistricting power and give it to an elected citizen body.
“What we have is a joke,” Bouchat says, “and my Republican colleagues refusing to address it with me is shameful. It is the one thing that perpetually keeps [Republicans] in super-minority status. Not addressing it every session means they do not care about fixing what traps them.” He asks, “Why?”
It’s a good question.
I’m glad the Carroll County delegation recognizes what state Democrats are up to, but writing letters to the state superintendent of schools is hardly likely to accomplish much of anything.
Bouchat has stated he believes the county’s delegation to Annapolis is simply too willing to go along to get along with their Democratic colleagues, arguing all the delegation ever accomplishes are insignificant tweaks to legislation that is otherwise harmful to the people of Carroll County or contrary to their values.
In an article for Maryland Bay News, Michael Phillips writes, “If adopted, [Bouchat’s] amendment would mark the most radical shake-up of redistricting in Maryland’s history, handing sovereignty back to voters and stripping it from party bosses.”
“We do not allow children to grade their own test scores,” Bouchat says, “and neither should politicians be allowed to draw their own districts.”
Maryland Governor Wes Moore is eying a run for the White House — or at least the vice presidency. Some consider him a leading candidate to be the Democratic presidential nominee in 2028.
Moore’s ambition makes him vulnerable to political pressure. Local officials need to exploit that vulnerability to protect Carroll’s citizens from Democratic lawmakers who want to forever raise their taxes, and who really don’t care what the people of Carroll County think about anything.
It’s time for Republicans to take bold action and in a very public way that forces Moore to use his office to stem the tide of Democratic tyranny in the state. Taking the state to court would certainly get the governor’s attention, but sometimes winning in the court of public opinion is more effective than a judicial win.
Moore knows if he finds himself painted as the deep blue-state governor who usurps the right of local communities to govern themselves, or the governor who raises taxes in order to pay for billions of dollars in government spending his state can’t afford, he can kiss his political ambitions goodbye.
State Republicans need to make sure this is precisely how the American people perceive the governor if he will not work with them to curtail the legislature’s efforts to usurp the authority of local elected officials.
Whether it’s Maryland’s highly intrusive and ridiculously expensive education reform initiative known as the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, which is blowing up county budgets across the state, or the Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project’s 70-mile-long high voltage transmission line, or the state Board of Education’s latest effort to usurp the authority of local education boards, it’s time for Carroll’s delegation to put up a very public fight which highlights Moore’s attempts to consolidate political power at the state level, making local governments increasingly irrelevant.
Somehow, I just don’t think writing a letter is going to be sufficient to get the job done.
Chris Roemer resides in Finksburg. He can be contacted at chrisroemer1960@gmail.com.
