A Maryland circuit court judge struck down the state’s new congressional district map on Friday, calling it “extreme gerrymandering.” The new district map was drawn up by the Democratic-controlled state general assembly last year, but was vetoed by Republican Gov. Larry Hogan. That same day, the general assembly overrode Hogan’s veto and enacted the map. Maryland has eight congressional districts, seven of which are traditionally Democratic and one Republican. Under the new map, the only Republican district would become a hypercompetitive district. Two groups of plaintiffs sued, claiming the map violated the state constitution, and their cases were consolidated. In her opinion, Chief Judge Lynne Battaglia noted that the testimony presented in the case supported the notion that the voices of Republican voters had been diluted and diminished by the Democratic map and that “the state never advanced any compelling reason to dilution and diminution. .” She concluded that the map was unconstitutional and subverted the “will of the governed”. Fair Maps Maryland, an anti-gerrymandering group that backed one of the lawsuits, issued a statement calling Maryland “ground zero for gerrymandering” and hailed the ruling as “a victory for democracy, plain and simple.” Judge Battaglia ordered the general assembly redrew the map by March 30 and scheduled a hearing on the new map for April 1.