Issue Position: Election Refore

Issue Position

Campaign Finance Reform

I have learned firsthand the problems with political donations. That's why I refuse to accept money from PACs or lobbyists. We need to overturn Citizens United and enact reform for more transparency. It's unacceptable that PACs can raise millions of dollars, and we don't know who they are. Politicians and outside groups spent $3.7 billion in 2014 mid-term elections. That's absurd. We need to make it easier for everyone who wants to serve and get rid of special interests. The only special interests politicians should care about are yours.

End Gerrymandering

Gerrymandering is a national and local problem. Gerrymandering has greatly distorted representation in Congress, leading to an ineffective system of government. And politicians in both parties are the direct cause of this dysfunction. It's a fundamentally self serving system for the politicians and no one else. Maryland has become a national example of this terrible problem thanks to our state legislature. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens has called one of Maryland's redistricting plans "outrageously unconstitutional." It's now the second most gerrymandered state in the country. It doesn't help that we are likely to live in areas that represent our personal political views. Elections are becoming more and more predictable. I support an independent redistricting commission so that all voters are represented in government. Today, technology can let us take census data to create sensible boundaries. We are constitutionally required to redraw the lines every ten years, but we are not required to do it fairly. There is no excuse to not have an effective districting system that benefits all constituents.

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