The North Carolina House this morning released its proposed electoral map for the state House districts, and it shows none of the incumbents from the Piedmont Triad to be “double-bunked.”
The House released its new congressional map on Tuesday night, and there are reports that the full House could convene around 3 p.m. today to vote on those maps, although that time could slide.
The state Senate has released no maps, but its Redistricting Committee is scheduled to meet at 3 today, and proposed maps likely would be revealed at that time. The full Senate is scheduled to convene at 11 a.m. Thursday to vote on the maps.
The News & Observer in Raleigh reported this morning that Senate Democrats played a significant role in drawing a new congressional map, which could help smooth that process.
State Sen. Michael Garrett (D-Greensboro) said Senate Leader Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) had told members that the process began with a map drawn by Democrats when the process was underway in the fall.
Just because each chamber approves maps doesn’t mean they will become the actual districts used when voters go to their polls. These maps will have to be submitted to a 3-judge panel in Wake County Superior Court and then to the North Carolina Superior Court for approval before they can be implemented.
The Supreme Court on Feb. 4 had ordered new maps because those approved in November by lawmakers were done so with extreme partisan gerrymandering designed to give Republicans expanded or cemented control in Washington and Raleigh.
The House map released this morning shows some lines that have moved slightly and perhaps some districts that are more competitive. The original maps tossed by the court would have given Republicans a good opportunity to have a supermajority of 72 seats in the House’s 120 districts.
But Asher D. Hilldebrand, an associate professor at Duke University, wrote on his Twitter feed this morning that, in his quick analysis, he sees a 55 solid GOP districts and 41 solid Democrat districts.
He said he thinks of the 24 competitive districts that 15 would lean Democrat and nine would lean Republican. He listed District 62, where John Faircloth (R-Greensboro) is the incumbent and District 59, where Jon Hardister (R-Whitsett) is the incumbent, among the Democrat-leaning/toss-up districts. Faircloth has served since 2011 and Hardister since 2013.
Across the Triad, only District 71 (Rep. Evelyn Terry) and 72 (Rep. Amber Baker) in Winston-Salem are seen by Hilldebrand to be solidly Democratic. Hilldebrand wrote that these maps are “clearly fairer” but that “it’s unlikely to produce a Dem majority even in a wave election.”
This process and the court review began when a 3-judge panel in Wake County Superior Court in early January had ruled that the legislature was guilty of extreme partisan gerrymandering but that, essentially, the state constitution gave lawmakers the responsibility to draw the maps and partisan gerrymandering wasn’t defined and couldn’t be addressed.
Supreme Court Justices, in a 4-3 decision along partisan lines, granted the appeal filed by the North Carolina League of Conservation Voters, the Harper group of plaintiffs and Common Cause and gave lawmakers until Friday to produce maps for review by the Wake County Superior Court panel of judges who first handled this case.
That court then would pass along these maps to the Supreme Court by Feb. 23 for final approval. Justices last week said they would appoint a special master to oversee this process and requested nominations for that role from all interested parties, but there has been no name announced.
With the maps in motion again, candidate filing is scheduled to resume at 8 a.m. on Feb. 24 and continue through March 5, with the primary election now scheduled for May 17. There has been speculation those dates could move – the legislature voted to do so, but Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed that measure – but the courts have not addressed that aspect.
This article will be updated.
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