Well, the legislature drew new Congressional maps. It’s a lot to take in but I’ll give you my initial thoughts.
First, they look a lot nicer than the old maps or any maps we’ve seen in a long time. They are more compact and split far fewer counties and precincts. However, they split almost every major city in the state, mostly along racial lines. Still, keeping communities whole is good.
Second, some legislators must really dislike George Holding and Alma Adams. Not only did they move them out of their districts, they moved their entire districts hundreds of miles away. To add insult to injury, they double bunked Holding with David Price in the Price’s heavily Democratic 4th District. Adams, who lives in Greensboro, would now represent a district that is entirely in Mecklenburg County. She will almost certainly lose her seat to a Charlotte politician.
Third, this legislature has very little respect for voters. They could have made adjustments to the maps and left most people alone. Instead, they decided to throw the middle of the state into chaos, changing people’s districts and giving them Representatives they don’t know.
Fourth, chaos favors incumbents. They’ve got money while new challengers will have to sprint.
Finally, I’ve got to rethink my race. The redistricting essentially cut the 8th CD in half, with the southern counties becoming the new 9th District that stretches from southeast Charlotte all the way to Bladen County. The 8th District now stretches from Salisbury to Fayetteville. I’ve got strong family ties and relationships in both districts. The 8th tends to perform slightly better for Democrats than the 9th but both could be competitive with the right message and candidate.
In the new 9th District, Republican incumbent Robert Pittenger is a poor fit for the eastern portion of the district. He’s an ethically challenged multi-millionaire with few ties outside of the Charlotte area. He’s currently under federal investigation for real estate deals and, right now, faces a primary from a former CIA officer.
In the new 8th District, Richard Hudson would have to introduce himself to people in Moore, Hoke and Cumberland Counties. His half-million dollar stash of special interest cash would certainly help him get his name out, though. Regardless, he would still be the quintessential Washington insider in a year when voters are fed up with DC dysfunction.
All of this pondering might be for naught. The courts may look at the districts and say they don’t meet the requirements of the Voting Rights Act. They’ve still packed about half of the African-American population into three districts. That’s why they were thrown out in the first place.
UPDATE: It’s not George Holding the Republicans dislike. It’s Renee Ellmers. They drew a district that incorporates more of Holding’s voters for her and moved the 13th to give some Republican out west a chance to go to Congress. So watch for a major primary in NC-02 if the districts hold.
Thomas Mills is the founder and publisher of PoliticsNC.com. Before beginning PoliticsNC, Thomas spent twenty years as a political and public affairs consultant. Learn more >
From the perspective of a former local official who worked on regional governance it would be a plus if congressional districts would be a) more compact b) bear a relation to the underlying geography that purport to serve c) attempt to better reflect the numbers in our state.
The current redistricting is already out of sync because it is based on the 2010 census and North Carolina has added well over a 500,000 residents since 2010 or nearly another district.
We need to move to a better system for redistricting and perhaps consider new ideas to ensure competitive districts.
The map makers must also love David Rouzer. Not only did they leave just enough of Johnston county in the 7th District to allow Rouzer to remain in his district, they removed the part of Johnston County that contains Mark Otto, Rouzer’s primary opponent. Rouzer either has very powerful friends in the General Assembly or he’s the luckiest politician in North Carolina.
Well at least this way I can cast my vote against Renee Ellmers/Whoever beats her in the primary rather than against George Holding. But judging from the way Wake has a giant hunk apportioned to the 4th (the part that was safely D anyway), the odds of prying Ellmers or her replacement loose are about as good as prying Holding loose were when I fell in the 13th.
So Thomas, if you stay in NC8, what do you figure the odds of Brad Miller venturing into NC9 are? My read on it was that he would have continued to run if they hadn’t drawn him into the same district as Price. Speaking of which, wasn’t it a rule that you had to live in your district? (When) did that change?
I’ve been looking at this map and was wondering is Greensboro split down the middle to dilute the democratic base like Asheville or is most/all of Greensboro in the 13th?
Looks like the new map takes Virginia Foxx’s Tea Party primary opponent, who I believe resides in Guilford County, completely out of the 5th District. Doubt she’ll take on Mark Walker in the 6th. I guess she could continue to run in the 5th even if she doesn’t reside there any longer.
Just realized Foxx’s primary opponent resides in Forsyth County. So Foxx will have a strong Tea Party opponent this primary no matter which district lines are in used. All of Forsyth County is in the 5ht District under the new map.
“That’s why they were thrown out in the first place.” Is not! You’re making that up, pure conjecture. If you and the Democrats would just have the intestinal fortitude to tell the courts EXACTLY what you REALLY want, and tell the public the same, you’d be tossed out of the courts, and in public opinion, which is why you won’t tell the truth.
Thus the pot speaketh to the kettle to lament about its own ills.
You go first Berwyn. Tell us what it is the Republican party is after. It’s ultimate goals and objectives. You know, if the truth is in you.
Tell us how Republicans have an idea of returning to feudalism. Talk to us about how Republicans would like to see women reduced to the role of being chattels once again. Ponder the implications of how Republicans would like to do to the United States what ISIS would do to Syria if given the chance which is turn it into a conservative Christian Caliphate. Let’s explore the concept of how the wealthy and the corporations pay no taxes, but the workers support government, what little there is of it. Elucidate the concept of how people would only be educated just enough to do the work and run the machines for the ruling and merchant classes. Focus on how people that work for a living need to find a better job or two if they want better pay. Strategically describe how jobs are market driven, there is a labor glut, and how they aren’t worth minimum wage, much less a raise.
So go ahead Berwyn, tell the people what it is the Republican party would really like to do them with regard to their Social Security, healthcare, and every other thing they’ve come to believe in and rely on government to do; things promised long ago in a social contract with the people.
Go ahead.
Anybody know where I can find district rating… R+11 ?
Our country has been operating under the Reapportionment Act of 1929 for almost 87 years, which kept in place the cap of 435 members for congress enacted in 1911. Frankly, I believe we should revisit the wisdom of the cap as well as the lack of specific direction in the Act regarding the size and shape of districts and how the districts relate to the citizens residing in the districts and the local governments operating within the congressional districts.
For reference:
“The Reapportionment Act of 1929 (ch. 28, 46 Stat. 21, 2 U.S.C. § 2a, enacted June 18, 1929) was a combined census and reapportionment bill passed by the United States Congress that established a permanent method for apportioning a constant 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives according to each census. The bill neither repealed nor restated the requirements of the previous apportionment acts that districts be contiguous, compact, and equally populated.
It was not clear whether these requirements were still in effect until in 1932 the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in Wood v. Broom[1] that the provisions of each apportionment act affected only the apportionment for which they were written. Thus the size and population requirements, last stated in the Apportionment Act of 1911, expired immediately with the enactment of the subsequent Apportionment Act.
The Act of 1929 gave little direction concerning congressional redistricting. It merely established a system in which House seats would be reallocated to states which have shifts in population. The lack of recommendations concerning districts had several significant effects.
The Reapportionment Act of 1929 allowed states to draw districts of varying size and shape. It also allowed states to abandon districts altogether and elect at least some representatives at large, which several states chose to do, including New York, Illinois, Washington, Hawaii, and New Mexico. For example, in the 88th Congress (in the early 1960s) 22 of the 435 representatives were elected at-large.”
What a mess. Not worthy of the citizens of this state. Tammany Hall in the 21st Century! Districts that look better but maintain a partisan advantage by clever manipulation of geography is still gerrymandering.
Wherever you end up, Thomas, don’t give up your quest to provide opposition to an incumbent congressman.. The 2016 election strikes me more and more as a change election and that means incumbents in many districts will feel the wrath of the voters. People are sick of “legiscrats.” And, they keep on giving us more reasons to feel disconnected..