October 25, 2021
-Big League Politics
Political leaders in western Maryland want to leave their state and join West Virginia. Elected officials in Allegany, Garrett and Washington counties wrote letters to West Virginia state leaders requesting that they add their counties to West Virginia.
In the middle of October, the letters were sent out to West Virginia Senate President Craig Blair and West Virginia Speaker of the House Roger Hanshaw. The letters were signed by Maryland State Senator George C. Edwards, whose district encompasses all three counties, and Delegates Wendell Beitzel, Jason Buckel, Mike McKay, William Wivell and Mike McKay.
The Maryland elected officials requested the West Virginia legislators “consider adding us as constituent counties to the State of West Virginia.”
“We believe this arrangement may be mutually beneficial for both states and for our local constituencies,” the Maryland leaders added. “Please advise on next steps.”
Following 7News’ attempt to ask for Maryland Governor Larry Hogan’s opinion on these letters.
Hogan’s spokesperson Michael Ricci made a post on Twitter saying that he hopes lawmakers will clarify what they requested in their letters.
“This has probably left a lot of people confused—including many Western Marylanders—and we certainly hope that the legislators will provide some clarity here,” Ricci remarked.
Western Maryland lawmakers requesting to join West Virginia draw similarities to a move that several counties in Virginia floated back in 2020 when they also wanted to join West Virginia.
These attempts to realign jurisdictions will continue as the country becomes more polarized and blue states become more hostile towards right-wingers. It’s perhaps one of the ways that right-wingers can fight back against the leftist onslaught.
