RALEIGH, N.C. (WGHP) -- The North Carolina Senate’s proposed new congressional map looks a lot different than the one proposed Tuesday night by the state House, with a variety of jagged districts that slice across the Piedmont Triad.
This version reportedly was created from maps originally generated by Democrats. 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.
But on Wednesday afternoon Berger told reporters: “After a week of working with Senate Democrats on a collaborative map-drawing process for the Senate map, we have not been able to reach a consensus.” Sen. Dan Blue (D-Wake), with whom Berger said he had met, issued a statement to complain that the GOP had adopted "a more secretive approach,"
This one would restore the 6th Congressional District to a design similar to its current makeup, which is comprised of all of Guilford County and the eastern half of Forsyth County, with Rep. Kathy Manning (D-Greensboro) as the incumbent.
The 5th District, where Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-Banner Elk) is the incumbent, would continue to stretch across the northern counties from Watauga to Caswell, but it also would include the western half of Forsyth County, a small corner of Person County and now all of Orange County, where Rep. David Price (D-Durham) is listed as an incumbent but also is retiring. The map also slices off the bottom corner of Wilkes County.
Just because each chamber of the General Assembly 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.
Shortly after the maps were released, Chris Cooper, a political science professor from Western Carolina and a mapping expert who had testified in court case that led to this redraw, posted this advice on Twitter: "Please take everything you read about these maps today (especially on here) w/ not just a grain, but a full truckload of salt -- Especially in the #ncga side (170 districts!) Actual analysis is going to take time. So, for now, my takeaway is: look -- some stuff changed; some didn't."
Highlights from the Senate’s congressional map
- Davidson County is part of a meandering 8th District that extends from Cabarrus County through the eastern half of Rowan County, across the northern slice of Randolph County and into Alamance County. Rep. Richard Hudson (R-Concord) is its incumbent.
- The remainder of Randolph County would be part of another winding district, the 9th District, which would include all of Montgomery, Stanly, Union, Anson, Chatham and Lee Counties along with pieces of Richmond and Harnett counties. That district has no incumbent.
- The 10th District would include all of Davie, Iredell, Lincoln, Alexander, Catawba, Burke, Avery, Caldwell and Alexander counties, along with small pieces of Wilkes and McDowell counties and the western portion of Rowan County. Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-Denver) and Rep. Ted Budd (R-Advance) would be incumbents in that district, but Budd is running for the U.S. Senate.
- A 2-way split of Mecklenburg County would place Rep. Alma Adams as the incumbent in the 12th and would move Rep. Richard Bishop (R-Charlotte) into the new 14th District, which is the area where Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-Hendersonville) had indicated he would run under the original maps, rather than in the 11th District, where he is the incumbent. House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Cleveland) also had considered running in this district.
- There is no incumbent listed in the 4th District, which would stretch from most of Person County into Durham County and the southeastern half of Wake County, or the 13th District, which would be all of Moore, Hoke, Scotland, Robeson and Cumberland counties and parts of Harnett and Richmond counties. Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-Wilson) is retiring in the 1st District.
What happens now?
The Senate released its version of districts for the state Senate earlier this afternoon. Its Redistricting Committee was scheduled to meet at 3 p.m. today and the full Senate will convene at 3 p.m. Thursday, ostensibly to vote and approve a final map.
The state House released its initial map of state House districts on Wednesday morning and its Redistricting Committee is meeting now to consider state House districts and was planning to discuss its congressional map tonight. The full House is expected to meet Thursday to vote on its proposed congressional and state House maps.
The unified congressional map must be approved by the entire General Assembly. They are not subject to a veto by Gov. Roy Cooper.
Why this happened
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.
Next steps
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.
0 Comments