October 18th, 2011 by WCBC Radio
Eyes were focused on Maryland's black lawmakers and Republican caucus Monday as the state's General Assembly meets in Annapolis for a special session to approve new Congressional lines. Over the weekend the Legislative Black Caucus met for hours, but failed to take a stand on a draft map offered by Governor Martin O'Malley. Some in their ranks are upset that the proposed map slices up Montgomery County in a way that they say would use minority votes to dilute white conservatives elsewhere. The GOP is angry that the governor's map adds a chunk of liberal Montgomery County to a longtime conservative Western Maryland congressional district- which republican Roscoe Bartlett has represented for two decades. The effect: The next election could replace one of Maryland's two GOP Congressmen with a Democrat. Senate President Mike Miller, a democrat, disagrees with the ascertion that the proposed change would turn western Maryland from a republican to a democrat district…