There have been quite a few excellent 8D-0R and 7D-1R MD maps drawn. I haven't done a MD map yet, so I was thinking if I could do something different from everyone else. I ended up with this: a Maryland map that supports three African-American majority districts.
I did not attempt to maximize Democratic seats in this map. I did not pay attention to incumbents. My only goal was to see if 3 AA seats were at least possible and to draw compact districts. The answer is that it is possible, and the result isn't good. I may attempt another 3 AA-majority map to see if I can get to 6-2 or 7-1. As it is, it is a solid 5-3 map.
MD-01 (Eastern Shore)
43% Obama 57% McCain
MD-02 (Northeastern part of the state)
42% Obama 56% McCain
MD-03 (Baltimore)
79% Obama 20% McCain, 50.3% AA by VAP
MD-04 (Baltimore to Washington I-95)
80% Obama 19% McCain, 55.7% AA by VAP
MD-05 (Charles/Prince George's/Anne Arundel)
73% Obama 26% McCain, 50.1% AA by VAP
MD-06 (panhandle)
41% Obama 57% McCain
MD-07 (Montgomery/Howard)
65% Obama 34% McCain, 15% Asian
MD-08 (Montgomery/Prince George's)
78% Obama 21% McCain, 26% AA, 26% Hispanic
Due to MD's explosion in Hispanic population (grew something like 150% since 2000), I attempted to draw a Hispanic-influenced district. This is about the best I can do and it is only 26% Hispanic, although if the Hispanic population keeps growing at the pace that it has been, this could turn Hispanic majority fairly quickly.
So there we have a 5D-3R map with 3 AA-majority Democratic districts. Obviously, not the best map that has been drawn here. Any comments? Any chance at all that MD will somehow be forced into drawing 3 AA-majority districts?