Photo: Tim Barnwell
Legislative News by Nelda Holder –
My friend had gotten her sample ballot and could not find the name of her US Congresswoman on the list—someone she liked and had planned to vote for again. (This was, to give credit where it’s due, NC’s Sixth District Congresswoman Kathy Manning (D), in her second term of representing the Triad.)
I explained that the behind-closed-doors redistricting of the state last fall had completely changed the Triad district and Manning would no longer be on her ballot. Indeed, Manning decided she would not be on anyone’s ballot, given the odds that were so carefully stacked against her in that legislative redistricting room. So as of next January, she’ll no longer be serving in Congress.
Let’s review.
October, 2023
The NC Senate Redistricting and Elections Committee took it upon themselves to change balance of the state’s 14 US House seats in such a way as to position the Republican Party to pick up at least three seats. The 7-7 split between Republican- and Democratic-leaning seats would change to a configuration that would lean heavily towards 10 Republican and 3 Democratic districts, with one remaining district that, as an October 23, 2023 AP report observed, “could be considered competitive.”
Kathy Manning’s original district would be subject to significant reconfiguration, resulting in her absence from my friend’s 2024 ballot. This would also be happening to Reps. Jeff Jackson of Charlotte and Wiley Nickel of Cary, both first-term Democratic congressmen.
Any of this sounding familiar? Yes—this is an up-close-and-personal result of the topic in last month’s column, relative to a current lawsuit attempting to throw out this very redistricting plan. But please read on.
March 5, 2024
The first state primary under the newly skewed maps produced an unsurprisingly overwhelming Republican victory for former House Speaker Tim Moore in the newly created District 14 (one of the…
Read the full article here
