Now Cummings has retired and has been replaced with Kweisi Mfume. The thing is - part of this district is shared with Columbia, MD - a part of Howard County. Howard is one of the wealthiest in the country. Baltimore and Howard are stark opposites. Cummings ignored his constituents in Columbia, Md (Howard County). This is a prime example of gerrymandering.
More on this ex NAACP member who will probably take Columbia, MD down with Baltimore.
Correction, I said Cummings retired. I should have said replaced. Cummings passed away.
“ On the far side of that, if he successfully returns to Congress, Mfume said he wants to institute an absolute federal ban on assault rifles ban, require more psychological testing for people attempting to purchase a firearm, protect the SNAP program, expand Medicaid coverage along with Medicare, and protect pensions from being undermined by corporations. He’s also interested in safeguarding communities against the ills of climate change and lessening healthcare disparities—tragedies that disproportionately harm people of color.
In addition to environmental injustices, comorbidities also exist disparately within Black, brown and low-income communities. In such instances, residents are likely to suffer from two or more adverse health issues simultaneously such as high blood pressure and kidney disease, or heart disease and thyroid problems.
Mfume left Congress last time to become president and CEO of the NAACP. When Mfume departed from the organization in 2004, he said it was so he could dedicate more time to his family. But an investigation by The Baltimore Sun revealed he stepped down following threats from an employee to sue over sexual harassment, a few negative performance reviews, and a vote by the board to not renew his contract.
Mfume and Cummings were friends for 42 years, up until the latter’s death in October. They cut their teeth in the community working through political organizations. Mfume recalled asking Cummings to run for his seat once he decided to leave Congress for the NAACP.
“The circle has come back to where it began,” he said, “with me now vying to continue the legacy of Elijah Cummings.”
(Slate)