There’s a part of Maryland where traveling in almost any cardinal direction — south, east, or west — will put you in West Virginia. It’s called Western Maryland, and it comprises Garrett, Allegany, and Washington Counties. If you combine those three counties with neighboring Frederick and Carroll Counties — five counties that border Pennsylvania and are west of Baltimore — you could get a congressional district.

It would be a coherent district, mostly rural, hilly, and fairly geographically compact. Basically an Appalachia district, It would also set up similarly coherent lines for the remaining seven districts of Maryland. So, why is there no Western Maryland congressional district? Because such a district would probably elect a Republican. Democrats, who controlled the legislature and the governor’s mansion in 2011, couldn’t have that.