A Carroll County retiree has spent $20K on radio ads fighting gerrymandering

We all grumble about politics, but most don’t do much about it other than vote or spout off on social media.

Not Roger Kaul.

The retired engineer from Carroll County put his money where his mouth is — quite literally — and spent more than $20,000 on radio ads opposing a redistricting question on the Maryland ballot this fall.

“I’ve never done anything like this before,” Kaul said over coffee at a cafe in Sykesville.

But the thought that Maryland voters might change the state’s constitution in a way that could enable gerrymandering bothers him greatly. He’s philosophically opposed to gerrymandering and also believes that the Democratic effort to do so is shortsighted.

The ballot item, known as Question 3, would rewrite part of the state constitution that governs redistricting. It would make clear that requirements for districts to be compact and respect boundaries apply only to General Assembly districts, not congressional districts.

The constitutional change would clear up a legal uncertainty facing the Democrats who hold power in Annapolis and sought to redraw the congressional boundaries in hopes of ousting the lone Republican, U.S. Rep. Andy Harris.

Kaul thinks gerrymandering is fundamentally wrong. He cites the Federalist Papers, where James Madison cautioned against an overbearing majority trampling over the minority.

Kaul, who describes his age as “mid-80s” and his political affiliation as “Reagan Republican,” said he took his concerns to GOP leaders in Carroll County. He wasn’t impressed with their plans.

“I said to myself, they’re going to pass out pamphlets, you know, or some stupid thing,” he said.

Indeed, Kaul did receive a glossy flyer in the mail from Carroll’s Republican party, listing all the GOP candidates to support and just one line about opposing Question 3.

“It was Mickey Mouse, what I would call it,” Kaul said of the efforts. “I mean, you’ve got to do something where you’re going to find thousands of people.”

So Kaul, a ham radio operator in his spare time, thought that maybe he could help the anti-Question 3 cause with radio ads.

He started with WTTR, a local radio station that bills itself as “The Voice of Carroll County.” Then he went bigger, to WBAL radio in Baltimore, and then bigger yet: WTOP radio in Washington, D.C. The ads have been airing for a couple of weeks and will run through Election Day.

WTOP’s audience is so large that its advertising rates are quite expensive, so he paid for snappy, 10-second spots. WBAL is airing 30-second ads, and WTTR has 30-second and 60-second versions.

“If Question 3 on the Maryland ballot passes, it will allow gerrymandering of our eight congressional districts on a grand scale,” a male narrator — not Kaul — says in one of the WTOP ads. “Please vote ‘no’ on Question 3. This message paid for by Roger Kaul.”

Kaul points out that this whole effort could be too little, too late for Democrats who frame it as a way to fight Republican President Donald Trump.

If Question 3 passes, and Democrats draw a new map, it wouldn’t be in place until the 2028 election. The members of Congress elected that year would be sworn into office in January 2029, in the waning days of Trump’s term.

“It’s just silly,” Kaul said. “So we end up with a situation where we have to live with Question 3, but they can only fight the lamest of lame ducks, right?”

Kaul didn’t tell anyone about the ads other than his two adult children, and he hasn’t heard from any other family or friends who’ve caught the ads. So he questions whether the ads are working.

“I doubt I would do it again,” Kaul shrugged. “But you know, you’ve got to try.”