As Maryland primary looms, congressional redistricting has created strange bedfellows

U.S. Rep. C.A. “Dutch” Ruppersberger, 76, a Baltimore County Democrat first elected to Congress two decades ago, finds himself for the first time seeking votes in much of Carroll County, which is more Republican, more rural and more connected to Western Maryland than any territory he has overseen. Why? The once-a-decade redrawing of political maps known as redistricting. Ruppersberger is not the only Maryland lawmaker who must reorient himself in advance of the July 19 primary.