Bartlett's Last Term?

As Maryland is currently working to redistrict our state, Roscoe Bartlett's seat may be in jeopardy. The 85-year-old Republican has served the sixth Congressional District for the past 20 years. Four Republicans and three Democrats have announced their intent to run for Bartlett's seat. Bartlett is currently the only Maryland Congressman to announce his running for re-election.

The new sixth Congressional District includes a larger portion of Montgomery county, while portions of Baltimore, Harford, and Carroll County were removed. It is expected that the increase of Montgomery county will add Democratic voters to the district, making a Republican victory very difficult.  For years, the sixth district of Maryland has been a majority of registered Republicans, a total of 140,797 voters.  Montgomery county, however, has the second highest number of registered Democrats in the state, a total of 322,981 voters.

The three Democratic candidates include Garagiola, 39, Pooran, 34, and Trachtenberg, 57.  The last Democrat to serve in the sixth Congressional District was Beverly Byron of Frederick from 1979 to 1993.

Will this change affect the Republican counties in the district, such as Garrett and Allegany, as a Democratic Representative would mainly focus in the Democratic counties?

To read the full story, visit The Cumberland Times-News.